The Summer Room
by Luv2Dream1212
Summary: The last little bit of middle school has finally arrived for Millie, Sam, and Lizzie, and they couldn't be more excited. Now, the thing that they have to look forward to is Summer Vacation and then High School. Only, here's a small problem, through a mysterious line of circumstances, the girls and their pal, Marley, have somehow ended up in ME and are now part of Thorin's Company.
1. Of Clarinets and Favorite Dwarves

The Summer Room

Prelude to the Winter House Trilogy

**AN: As promised, here is the prelude to the "Winter House Trilogy"! I'm really proud of it so far…R&R…and enjoy! **

**Summary: The last little bit of middle school has finally arrived for Millie, Sam, and Lizzie, and they couldn't be more excited…with only two days left, the thing that they have to look forward to is Summer Vacation and then High School. Only, here's a small problem, through a mysterious line of circumstances, the three best friends and their pal, Marley, have somehow ended up in Middle Earth and are now part of a company of 13 dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard! **

CHAPTER 1

OF CLARINETS AND FAVORITE DWARVES

MILLIE

The last bell of the day rang and I stepped out of classroom into the hot June sun. I fanned myself with my notebook, it sure was hot…but at this point…I didn't care how hot it was because we only had two days left of school before summer vacation! I looked down at the screen-saver of the phone in my hand, a black and white picture of Thorin Oakenshield from "The Hobbit". I swear, he fits perfectly with the description of a "Hot Dwarf"…and Kili too. I quickly went through my favorite characters from the movie in my head, Kili…hot, there's no other word that could describe him, Thorin…cute (maybe a little hot), okay, hot, he sings bass clef! Next, Bilbo...cute and funny, Ori...cute in a puppy sort of way, Fili, he's just…a boss, he has swag I tell you! Then there was Gandalf…a man-pretty old man (you judge, I kill). I smiled to myself as I came toward the band room. "What are you so happy about?" came a voice from behind, I turned, behind me came my crush, Lance. My face flushed scarlet and I quickly ran my hand through my wavy, strawberry blonde hair. We hardly ever talked, and he never came this way. "Hey Lance, what's up? I was just thinking about some of my favorite movie characters."

"Oh, cool, I just needed to ask Mr. Carter to sign my yearbook." Mr. Carter was the music teacher. Lance was in advanced choir with one of my best friends; Elizabeth Douglas.

"So you excited about Summer?"

"Heck yes, I'm just about done with school."

"I agree." We walked inside, "See you Lance."

"Bye." We went our separate ways, I went to the back of my room to join my besties by the instrument lockers and Lance made his way to Mr. Carter's office. As usual, my best guy friend Marley was bugging my besties, Sam, his fraternal twin sister and Lizzie. And of course, he was standing in front of my locker, blocking the doors. I put my phone in the pocket of my light denim Bermuda's shorts, shoved him aside, crouched down and opened one of the doors. I took my two instruments, Tenor Saxophone and Clarinet from the locker, set them on the ground in front of it and took out my music, I set that on the ground on top of my saxophone, then went over to the three, and tried get Marley to stop hugging Sam, Sam hated hugs, especially when they were forced on her by him. Sam was small, either a really tall hobbit or a really short dwarf, and Marley towered over her like Gandalf over Frodo. "Let her be Marshal, and bug someone else." I said, using his full name. He let her go, looked at me, then ran over to my instrument pile and grabbed my Clarinet. I tried to grab it but then he held it over his head to where I couldn't reach. I put my hands on my hips and shot a light-hearted glare at him, "Marshal Grayson Carlyle give that back!"

"Nope." He turned and bolted toward the corner practice room. Like I already said, he was tall, with shaggy brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses which sat upon the bridge of his nose. He also had a higher voice than most boys his age. Lizzie, Sam, and I chased after him, myself in the lead. I grabbed the other side of the case handle and jerked it toward me, he yanked it back, and so forth, suddenly, I about pulled Marley off his feet. He grabbed hold of the wall, and was sucked straight in! I was immediately pulled afterward, followed by Sam and Lizzie's horrified yelps. The two clutched each other's hand and jumped in afterward.

I was falling, falling, churning colors were all about me and my vision was blurred. I was trapped and felt sick. I had no idea where the portal was going to take us…what if we never saw home again? What if we never came back? We wouldn't be able to graduate from Junior High and move on with our lives. _Frick._ I thought to myself. Suddenly, there was a great flash of light; I was blinded for a second, and bang! I crashed onto the ground; actually, I crashed onto Marley. I heard a scream from above and Elizabeth crashed onto to us, and then came Sam.

"Okay, oww!" I exclaimed. We groaned and got out of our pile and stood up. We were standing in front of a small gate, and inside the yard were stairs and a green hill with a green door whose knob was in the center.

"Is that…what I think it is?" Sam said, studying the door closely.

"Bag End." I answered.

"That weird wall brought us here?" Elizabeth wondered aloud.

"No shiz, Sherlock." Marley said. Elizabeth smacked him in the arm with the back of her hand.

"Shut up!" she replied, her voice jumping an octave to a squeak, like it always did.

I exchanged glances with Sam before walking toward the door. "I'm knocking." I said. Sam followed after me with Elizabeth and Marley shuffling behind. I unlatched the gate and swung it open, even though I could've most likely jumped or even stepped over it. I took a deep breath and knocked lightly but loudly on the door three times. I heard a voice on the other end. "No! No! I am not letting any Dwarves inside my house, there are already far too many!" I smiled to myself, it was Bilbo, I could tell by the voice. He opened the door and we saw that he was about three feet tall with curly, slightly messy light brown hair and brown eyes. His hair was a little bit curlier than Marley's shaggy locks, I decided.

"Oh…umm...you're not dwarves…" he said.

"Nope," said Elizabeth, "Just a bunch of teenagers who are about to graduate from Spring View Mountain Middle School in California."

Marley did a face-palm and said, "He's not going to know anything about any of that."

"Thank you very much, I realize that." Lizzie replied. Bilbo looked at us like we were insane. I elbowed them in the ribs, and said to the hobbit, "Don't mind them, they're insane." I apologized.

"Umm, well, uhh…"

"Bilbo, who are you talking to?" inquired a different voice. An old man leaning on a staff in grey robes with long grey hair, a long grey beard, and blue eyes appeared in the doorway, it was Gandalf.

"Well bless my beard," he said jovially, "Who might you be?"

"Uhh…" I began, I froze up. I've always admired Tolkien's characters…but meeting them…well it was something totally different...and I was a little bit on the shy side...okay, really on the shy side.

"Millie, Sam, Lizzie, and Marley, sir." Elizabeth said, pointing to each of us.

Gandalf smiled warmly, "Well don't just stand out there in the cold, come on in, join the party, I think there is still some food left." He motioned with his hand for us to enter.

We girls smiled, "Okay!" we ran in, leaving Bilbo trying to protest, but Marley stayed behind.

"C'mon!" Sam urged.

"Okay, fine." He said, rolling his eyes and slowly following.

"Watch your head." I said. Too late. _Thump!_ His forehead hit the top of the door; he ducked in, clutching it.

"Oww, son of a-" _Thump._ There went his head on the chandelier.

"Okay, this place is too small!" he exclaimed, steadying the chandelier. We snickered and made our way in.


	2. The Dinner Party

CHAPTER 2

THE DINNER PARTY

**Elizabeth's POV**

I made my way into the already-crowded dining room, carrying a steaming plate a food, trying not to drop it or trip on anything. I accidently backed in to a rather tall dwarf with lots of scars and frizzy black hair and beard. The top of his head was bald and had tattoos.

"Watch where yer goin' lassie." He snapped.

"I'm sorry." I about knocked over a young dwarf with brown hair. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I yelped. Before he could reply, I found myself tripping over my untied shoe laces and before I knew it, my plate of food was flying through the air and I was falling to the ground. I heard several voices call "Watch out!" and braced myself for the impact when I hit the floor, though it was needless because I found myself landing someone's arms. They helped me up and I turned to look at them. It was a very young dwarf with long, wavy dark hair and not much of a beard. He was absolutely adorable. "Umm…I…" I began, but was cut short when a blonde dwarf appeared holding my plate of food, which looked the same from before I had dropped it.

"I believe you dropped this." He held out the plate for me.

"Umm, thanks." I said, taking the plate.

"It was a good thing I caught it," he said, "Or it would've landed on Dwalin's head."

"That wouldn't have been good." Said the cute dwarf. They both looked at me, expecting me to say something.

I looked around the dining room to find my friends. Sam was sitting beside a dwarf with red hair and a red beard, listening to the conversations around the table, looking uncomfortable and slightly irritated, considering that the red-head kept "accidentally" leaning into her shoulder and apologizing (Gloin), Millie was sitting next to the young dwarf I had bumped into earlier engaged in a lively conversation with him, another young, brown-haired dwarf with weird hair (Nori) and a grey-haired dwarf who looked related to them (Dori), and Marley was bugging Sam on her other side, though she tried everything to ignore him.

"Umm, lassie?" I shuddered and snapped out of my zoned-out state, looking back at the two dwarves.

"Oh, uhh…"

"Do you want to come sit with us?" asked the dark-haired dwarf brightly.

"Yes, we'd be happy if you would." The blonde one added, shooting me a ridiculous, adorable smile.

"Sure." I said, returning the expression. They locked arms with me on both sides and led me to the table. I smiled; I think I was going to enjoy the company of these adorable, flirtatious dwarves.

**Samantha's POV **

"Do you not know the definition of a concept called "personal space" I muttered way under my breath as I tried not to explode at Gloin for constantly leaning on me, all the while I angrily tried to keep Marley away from me. "Stop it, go away!" I shoved his shoulder with both hands harshly, but he still didn't leave me alone, in fact, he did the exact opposite, he pushed me halfway out of my chair so I was practically on Gloin's lap. I kept smacking his shoulder and attempting to push him away, "Get away you have your own chair!" I snapped. "Uggh! You know what, I'm just gonna scoot on over here." I climbed over Marley and plopped myself down into his chair, letting him fall over and squash Gloin. _Bet he loves that. _I thought sarcastically, meaning Gloin.

"Anyone want and ale?" came Fili's voice as he walked across the table his hands full with cups of ale, but as he came passed me, however, one of the cups tipped and got all over me. "Aww, son of a-uggh! Dang it! Now I smell like grog, uggh!" with that, I let out a huffy breath and tipped back in my chair, letting it crash to the ground, everyone around the table turned and looked at me, gasping, but I ignored them and rolled out of the chair, crawling across the floor to get out of the dining room. I think I sighed with relief after I exited the dining room. I began to make my way through the halls, "Now if I could just find the bathroom." I said to myself. I started to make my way through the hallway, cautiously, I opened a door slowly, and jumped when it creaked, finding myself peering into a dark, empty bedroom, Bilbo's bedroom. "Crap, that is not the bathroom." I slowly closed the door as a look of guilt spread across my face.

"Excuse me, may I help you with something?"

I gasped and turned sharply, Bilbo was standing in front of me, looking up on me with his brown hobbit eyes. "I umm…"

"Why were you in my room?" he asked, trying his best not to snip at me.

"I was looking for the bathroom." I replied.

"Oh," he replied, taken aback, "I…I wouldn't recommend going in there…"

"I just needed to wash the smell of ale off of me."

"Oh…umm…of course, follow me." Bilbo turned and led me down the hall into his pantry, which he gazed at solemnly, as well as slightly irritated…and disbelieved. He rolled his eyes, did a huffy breath and said, "Bloody Dwarves." then he whipped a hand over his mouth, "oh, I'm sorry, excuse my language…" he turned as red as a tomato.

"It's okay," I said, "I've said worse."

"Umm, yes…I…oh, right, I'll be right back." he left the pantry then came back holding a handkerchief, he walked over to one of the barrels and ran the dispenser, soaking the cloth, he handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said, beginning to wash the smell of ale off of me, I shivered when the cold water soaked through my clothes and touched my skin, when at last I finished, I wrung and shook out the kerchief, and realized Bilbo was still awkwardly standing there. I locked his gaze for moment, without saying anything, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you…have any food left?"

"Umm…would you like some tomatoes?"

I smiled, "Yes please!" He went over to one of the counters and came back holding out a bowl of tomatoes, "Here, help yourself."

"Thanks." I took one of the best-looking ones, wiped it off with my palm and popped it into my mouth. When I finished my share I said, "we should probably get back to the feast."

"Yes," replied Bilbo, "Before the dwarves turn everything upside-down."

I nodded and we headed back into the dining room.

The dinner party was chaos. The moment we walked in, I wished we never had. All dinner dishes had been cleared away from the table…replaced by the dwarves (all but Dwalin, Balin, and Bombur), Millie, Lizzie, and Gandalf. Lizzie's iPod was connected to my iPod speaker, and "Gangnam Style" echoed throughout the house while Millie and Lizzie taught them all the dance! Marley was leaning back in his chair face-palming and the other three dwarves were laughing merrily at their comrades' ridiculous performance of the song. I looked down at two plates that had not been cleaned and stacked. On top of each one, there was the remains of what looked like a chocolate cake.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, "Who gave Lizzie and Millie sugar!?"

"We made it!" Millie exclaimed loudly as she danced passed me.

I face-palmed, turned to Bilbo and said, "This is what I have to deal with every day."

"I feel sorry for you." he said as he gazed, agitated, at footprints on his table. Merry laughter filled the air as everyone sat back down.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

Immediate silence.

"He is here." said Gandalf.

I knew very well that "He" meant the leader of this company, Thorin Oakenshield.


	3. A Matter of Loyalty

CHAPTER 3

A MATTER OF LOYALTY

DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE HOBBIT OR ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT, ALL RIGHTS GO TO PETER JACKSON, NEW LINE CINEMA, WARNER BROS, TOLKIEN, YOU GET THE PICTURE. I ONLY OWN MY OC'S.

**Marley's POV**

We all gathered in the hallway, silent, as Gandalf let Thorin inside. He was all clad in mail and armor and wore a fur vest. He had long , dark hair with braids here and there, and of course, a signature, unique beard like all the dwarves did. His face showed no sign of happiness, but a lot of stress and sorrow. There was also a bit of anger, betrayed by his piercing, flashing, blue eyes.

_This isn't someone I want to meet. _I thought.

"Gandalf," he began as he stepped in through the door, "I thought you said this place would be easy to find? I lost my way, twice. wouldn't have found it at all if it weren't for that mark on the door." he commented.

_Is that really necessary? _I thought.

"Mark?" Bilbo said, "There's no mark on that door, it was painted a week ago!"

Gandalf looked down at the little hobbit, "There is a mark, I put it there myself." before Bilbo could reply the wizard said, "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our Company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Bilbo walk toward the tall dwarf, who looked down at him, seeming unimpressed, "So this is the hobbit?" he began to circle him, "Tell me, Mister Baggins have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?"

"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?"

"Well, I do have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I don't see why that's...relevant."

"Thought as much," replied Thorin, "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." he sneered. The dwarves laughed. Then Thorin turned his blue gaze/glare, whatever you wanna call it, toward us. "Who are they? You spoke only of one other person...not five."

"They came sort of, unexpectedly, though I do believe they have a great deal of potential, and will be a smart edition to the Company."

He studied us all, his blue gaze burning through me like fire. "They are nothing but children to my eyes." he said.

Then Sam stepped forward, "Children?" she echoed, "Begging your pardon, sir, but i believe the correct term is teenagers...teenagers...and we do too have potential!"

"I never said you didn't have potential," he retorted, "In fact I didn't say anything to that effect, all I said was, 'you are not but children to my eyes'."

"The correct term is teenagers."

"Fine, teenagers, happy?" he snipped.

"Thank you sir." my sister replied, crossing her arms and tossing her hair, a smug grin on her face.

"Now," said Thorin, "since the four of you seem to be so adamant on proving yourselves, tell me, what are your weapons of choice?"

"Axe." Sam said.

"Sword." Millie said.

"Bow." Lizzie said.

"My-" I began.

"MARLEY!" the girls yelled in unsion.

"Uggh, fine...I like scythes, particularly double-sided scythes."

"Have any of you ever handled any of these weapons?"

"No," Sam began, "But how hard can handling an axe be? All you do is swing the thing and decapitate enemies."

"I've practice hand-to-hand combat, but i've never used a real sword before." Millie confessed.

_Millie practices combat? _

"I have a bow, I practice when i'm bored, which is actually quite a lot." Elizabeth answered.

_Hmmph, show off. _Then, Thorin turned to me, his gaze, once again, penetrating my soul. "and what about you? Have you ever handled a scythe before?"

"No." I replied briskly, "Why would I handle a medieval weapon in the twenty-first century?"

Thorin simply nodded, with not even the slightest look of admiration. _So what? Like I care._

"Very well." he said. Then he turned, and with his fellow dwarves, headed into the dining room, leaving Gandalf, Bilbo, the girls and I, awkwardly standing around in silence.

"We should...follow them...I guess." Millie suggested shyly.

"You probably wanna get all up in their group don't you?" I replied.

"Shut up! You know right well that isn't true!" she replied.

Samantha slapped me in the shoulder, "Shut up, that's_ your_ thinking I bet, Millie's not a perve like that."

"D**n you Samantha!" I replied, "Why do you always have to figure out my inside jokes!?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because i'm your twin sister and I have been living with you since we were born."

"That is enough you two." Gandalf intervened, "I believe Millie has the right thinking, let us go join them now." No one argued, but I did give Sam a shove, which she quickly returned, just about knocking me over.

"Enough you two." Gandalf quickly said.

_I swear that wizard is stalking us. _I thought.

**Samantha's POV**

"Uggh, shut up already." I muttered, slapping my hands over my ears, the dwarves were once again being loud and boisterous. I looked around, Marley was slumped in his seat looking irritated, Elizabeth had joined in with the dwarves and Millie had her head down on the table.

Suddenly, Thorin stood up, "_SHAZARA!_" (silence) he yelled in Khazadul. At once, everyone fell silent and sat back down, "If we have read these signs do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The Dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look East to the Mountain, assessing, wandering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people lies unprotected. Do we sit back and let others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor!? _Du bekar, du bekar_! (to arms, to arms)"

Everyone cheered, Millie's and Lizzie's shrieking "Whooooo!" the loudest above all.

"You forget that the front gate is sealed?" Balin asked over everyone, "There is no way into the mountain." Everyone fell silent.

"That my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf answered. The wizard's eyes sparkled mischievously under his bushy eyebrows as he took a key from his robes, turned it over twice in his hand and showed it to everyone.

Thorin stared at the key in awe, "How can you be by this?" he asked.

"It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safe-keeping. It is yours now." the wizard handed the dwarf the key, he took it and studied it.

"If there is a key," began Fili, "There must be a door."

Gandalf pointed at the map, "The runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in." Kili said.

_Really? I didn't know that. _I thought with utter sarcasm.

"Well, if we can find it, but Dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe it can be done." Gandalf said.

"That's why we need a burglar." Ori pointed out.

"Hm, a good one too. An expert i'd imagine." Bilbo put in.

"And are you?" asked Oin.

"Am I what?"

"He says he's an expert!" the grey-haired dwarf said, "Hey! Hey!" Several of the dwarves laughed and I couldn't help but muster a small grin.

"M-Me..no, no, no, no, no. I'm not a burglar; I've never stolen a thing in my life." Bilbo argued.

"i'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He's hardly burglar material." Bilbo nodded.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin added. Bilbo nodded again as the dwarves began to argue...again.

Suddenly, Gandalf rose to his full height, angry, darkness spread across the room and he boomed, "Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, than a burglar he is." Gandalf calmed down and went back to his normal self. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the smell of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this Company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself, that goes for the four of them of too," he turned his gaze to us and nodded, "You must trust me on this."

"Very well," said Thorin, "We'll do it your way. Give him the contract." Bilbo protested, but soon found himself with the contract in his hands. He walked a few away and began to read, some of which he read out loud. I couldn't really understand him until he looked up at the dwarves, "Incineration?"

"oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." Bofur said.

Bilbo looked a little breathless. He bent over, seeming nauseous and pained.

"You alright laddie?" Balin asked.

"Um..yeah, feel a bit..faint."

He didn't look okay.

"Think furnace with wings." Bofur said.

He breathed heavily as we all stared at him.

"Flash of light, searing oain, then, poof! You're nothing but a pile of ash."

"Nope." the little hobbit fainted.

"Ahh, very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf said. I couldn't help but grin at Gandalf's sarcasm.

**Lizzie's POV**

****We made our way into the main room where Marley was sitting on the floor in front of the hearth. "Bilbo okay?" he asked.

"He's fine." Sam said, "He was arguing with Gandalf when we came in."

"We felt awkward so we left." I said simply.

"Sounds like you." Marley commented.

"Thanks." I replied sarcastically. Then, I looked around, "Hey, where's Mill?"

"I don't know," Sam answered, "She was just here a minute ago."

"Knowing her, she's probably trying to get King Negative's attention." Marley put in with smart-aleck tone.

"Stop it," I snipped, "Millie's probably with the others, and also that isn't nice to call him that, no matter how much of jerk he seems to be. He's got a lot on his mind, you have to understand."

"Why would I even care?" he retorted, "this situation is probably just a dream anyway."

"Since when do you have dreams Mar-butt?" Sam inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"What, you think all these mishaps are real?" he replied, rolling his eyes. Sam pinched his arm, hard.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Not a dream." She said.

Marley was silent, he just glowered at her through his brown irises. Samantha had won this one. (Normally she always did).

i rolled my eyes lightheartedly and a huge smiled curved across my lips, "You two are so ridiculous." I grinned to myself and leaned against the warm hearth,closing my eyes and enjoying the warmth. I heard boots across the floor and opened my eyes, Fili and Kili were standing over me.

"Hey boys." I said.

They smiled and Kili turned a little pink, and I silently hoped that I wasn't. "Do you want to come watch Gloin and Bofur face off in Chess with us?"

"Umm," I sustained the word as I failed to make eye-contact with them, trying to remember which dwarves they were, I finally gave up and said, "Sure."

"Alright." Kili replied happily. The brothers helped me up and led me toward the others.

**Millie's POV**

I about ran into Bilbo as I made my way through Bag End in search of Oakenshield. As nervous as I was, I needed to tell him something. I had managed to convince my friends to come with me and become [art of the Comnpany, well, it hadn't been hard with Sam and Lizzie. They'd both agreed...but with Marley it was a bit harder, and he still didn't exactly agree... he was forced in a way. "It's either you come with us and we get home sooner, or you can live in Bag-End for the rest of your life." Sam had said. I smiled to myself, that girl sure knew how to handle her pain-in-the-butt brother.

I found Thorin in the hallway speaking with Balin. I waited for them to finish speaking before I appeared in front of them, they both turned and looked at me. I almost turned away when Thorin's eyes pierced me like an arrow. Gosh, he sure was pleasant to look at...he was cuter in person. "Umm...Th-Thorin, I just wanted you to know that...my friends and I...we're going to stand by your side...all the way to the end. We may not be very useful with weapons now...but we are pretty clever I think...we'll learn fast." I shot him a small smile. He remained silent and did not return the expression, though he looked less troubled now...I could see it in his eyes, and Balin said,

"I know you will." I widened my smile a little before dipping my head, "I take my leave." I turned and went back into the main room, feeling a little bummed that Thorin hadn't communicated at all, but all that changed when I saw Ori. He was quietly reading in a chair in the corner of the room. He looked a little forlorn...and lonely, so I approached him, "Mind if I sit down?"

He looked up from his book to me, giving me a little smile, "Go ahead."

"Thanks." I said. I returned his expression and sat down on the floor beside the chair.

The fire light cast a dim glow across the room. Its flickering flames cast an eerie shadow upon all of our faces. The room was silent, save for the quiet, eerie humming of the dwarves.

_THORIN: _

_Far over, the Misty Mountains Cold._

_to dungeons deep, and caverns old. _

_THORIN AND BALIN: _

_We must away, ere break of day,_

_To find our long forgotten gold. _

_ALL DWARVES: _

_The pines were roaring,_

_O-o-o-on the height. _

_The winds were moaning,_

_in the night._

_the fire was read._

_it flaming spread._

_the trees like torches, blazed with light. _


	4. And We're Off

CHAPTER 4

AND WE'RE OFF

**Samantha's POV**

When I awoke to the blinding sunlight streaming in, it took me a moment to figure out where I was. Then like a tidal wave, all of yesterday's mishaps came back to me- School, band-room, portal, party, my annoying brother, arguing with Thorin, ( I smiled at that one), and so forth. I then remembered that I was lying on the floor of Bag End in front of the hearth. I lay there for a minute before I yawned and stretched, lazily dragging my butt off the ground. I exited the room and paced a little, peering at the contract lying on the side table, which of course, Bilbo had not yet signed. I shook my head when I heard his voice, "Hello?"

"I'm in here." I said. Bilbo arrived inside the room.

"Samantha?" he asked, "How come you're not with your friends?"

"A few reasons, number one, I was too lazy to wake up early, number two, I didn't want ot leave you all by yourself, and number three, I'm going to make sure you sign that contract."

"Oh, well, umm..." he looked down at the contract and a look of guilt with a tad of sadness spread across his face. He picked up a feather quill, dipped it in ink and signed his name. I smiled and patted his shoulder, grabbed the quill and wrote my signature on it as well. He looked up at me with his little hobbit face, a small smile curving across his lips, "We're going to have to run aren't we?"

"Not just run...sprint."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Race you?"

"It would be my pleasure."

**Millie's POV**

I looked around nervously, scanning the area for any sign of Sam and Bilbo.

"Don't worry yourself Mill, she'll be here soon." Lizzie told me, putting a comforting arm around my shoulder. I fidgeted uncomfortably in the saddle of my pony. He was a chestnut called Hazel. "Uggh, I can't feel my butt!" I complained accidentally too loud. The whole company turned and looked at me. I slapped a hand over my mouth, feeling my face turn scarlet.

"What she means is...she's not used to the saddle, so she's a little uncomfortable in it, right Mill?"

"Umm, yeah,what she said." I replied.

The dwarves, Marley, and Gandalf turned back and looked straight ahead, and we set off.

"Thanks Lizzie." I said.

"No prob chica." she replied.

We rode on in silence, listening to the dwarves mumbling to one another. _They're probably rambling about Sam and Bilbo._ I thought. Though, truth be told, I was beginning to wonder about them, thinking that they wouldn't show up. But my worrying was short lived when I heard a chorus of "Oi, wait!" behind us. We halted our ponies and turned around. I almost laughed out loud- there came Sam and Bilbo, out of breath. Bilbo was holding the contract. "I signed it." he said, a huge smile on his face.

"Ahem." said Samantha, directing it toward the hobbit.

"Uhh, we signed it." he corrected.

He handed the contract to Balin, who inspected it with a pocket-glass. He smiled down at them, "Everything seems to be in order, welcome, Master Baggins and Miss Carlyle, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield." Everyone cheered.

"Give them ponies." Thorin commanded. A protesting Bilbo was lifted onto one while Sam walked over to us. "We saved one for you." I said, patting the back of the little pinto beside Hazel.

"Thanks." she replied, pulling herself onto the miniature horse.

"You signed the contract to?" I questioned.

"Yeah, it'll be cool. Plus, I didn't want Bilbo to do all the dirty work himself, if you know what I mean."

"Uhh huh." I put a sly grin on my face. "Are you sure those are the only reasons you chose to be burglar number two? Are you sure it isn't because you want some alone time with Bilbo?"

"Of course I'm sure...I don't even like him." My face flushed a little pink.

"Uh huh." I nodded with a sly grin still upon my face.

"No, no, wait, wait, stop!"

"Speaking of the hobbit." I said. We all stopped and turned to face him.

"We have to turn around, I forgot my handkerchief." He said. I did a face-palm and shook my head.

"Here," said Bofur, throwing him a rag from his clothing, "Use this." the dwarves all laughed as he eyed it with disgust.

"Move on." Thorin commanded, and we were off again.

_Poor little Bilbo. _I thought.

**Lizzie's POV**

I woke with a start. It was the middle of the night and I had had another bad dream. I looked around me, it seemed like everyone was asleep. Marley was snoring softly with his back turned to me and Sam and Millie lay side by side next to me.

I shivered as a draft wafted around me. I curled up in a ball and rolled on my side, trying to find a comfortable position. Useless, the ground was not at all comfortable. I shivered again as I felt another draft. I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and curled up even tighter. Suddenly, I cloak something warm over me. I looked up to see Kili standing over me, he had covered me with his cloak. "I figured you needed this." he said.

"Thank you," I replied, "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." another draft came and he shuddered. I sat up and patted a spot beside me, "Sit down, it'll be a little warmer next to me."

He smiled at me and nodded before sitting down. I leaned against his shoulder and sighed, falling asleep right then and there.

A shriek interrupted my slumber. I snapped my eyes open and looked around, Fili and Kili sat under a boulder, most likely on watch, and Gandalf was leaning against a tree, quietly smoking his pipe. Bilbo was also awake, talking quietly to his pony. At the sound of the shriek, the hobbit snapped his head toward Fili and Kili, "What was that?" he asked, looking terrified.

"Orcs." replied Kili.

"Orcs?" echoed the hobbit.

"Aye, there be dozens of them out there." Fili answered.

"They strike in the wee hours of the night when everyone's asleep, no screams...just lots of blood." Kili explained. The brothers turned and chuckled to each other.

"You think that's funny?" came Thorin's gruff voice, "You think that a night raid by orcs is a joke?" he snapped.

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili answered.

"No, no you didn't. You know nothing of the world." their uncle snapped before turning his back to them."

"Don't mind him, laddie, Thorin has more causes than most, to hate orcs..." Balin said.

* * *

**AN- And we'll stop there since I'm too lazy to write the flashback, but, before I go, I need a favor, please tell me by PM or in your review, giving your honest opinion, if I should pair Millie with Thorin or with Ori. I value all opinions. Thanks again for your support everyone :) **

** -Luv **

**PS- And don't be afraid to be honest, I love both of them, so I won't get mad, either choice is fine. Thanks so much guys! Love you! Oh and one more thing, I'm making the deadline for all opinions to be when I post chapter seven. **


	5. Deluge and Tumbling

CHAPTER 5

DELUGE AND TUMBLING

**Marley's POV**

"You're nuts, Samantha." I said, staring at my sister in embarrassment. She was riding her pony, in her t-shirt and pants with no sweatshirt or hood...and it was pouring down rain.

"What? I love the rain, gotta a problem with that?" she replied in a squeaky tone.

"Umm, yeah, you're gonna get a cold." I replied.

"I am not." she retorted, "I do this all the time."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, "Whatever, when you get a cold and feel like crap, don't come whining to me."

"First of all, Marshal, I'm fourteen I don't whine, and second of all, I already freaking told you, I. Am not. Going to. Get. A. Cold."

"That should have been said in a complete sentence." I answered, "And don't call me Marshal, or Mario, or Mar-Mar, or whatever other weird nickname you have in mind, I am Marley, nothing else."

I heard Millie and Lizzie giggle. I turned and looked at them, "What's so funny?"

"Mar-Mar." Millie replied.

"It sound's like a cat name...or something a mother would call a baby." remarked Lizzie, giggling again.

"Uggh, look what you did Sam." I muttered.

"Well you asked for it, _Marley,"_ she put an emphasis on my name, "-When you corrected my grammar! I don't give a s**t about grammar, since, technically, we're supposed to be on Summer Break." she snapped.

"Uggh, you guys are ridiculous," Millie said, "I'm going up with the dwarves." she was off before anyone could stop her.

"Mill, wait, i'm coming too!" Elizabeth followed after her.

We stared after them before Sam slugged me in my shoulder again. "Ouch!" I yelped.

"Then stop being a pest." she remarked before heading up towards the girls. I rolled my eyes, they were like three peas in a pod, and I was just the "other guy". I face-palmed and shook my head.

"Umm, excuse me," I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Bilbo.

"Yeah?"

"Is she always like that?" he asked, "I mean, does she always treat you like that?"

"Who, Sam? We have a love-hate relationship, just like most siblings do. So, yes. She has a quick temper too. She's also stubborn and rebellious," I replied, "But she's always there if you want to talk about a problem or something, that's the great thing about her...but she doesn't share much about herself though. ." I explained, "Oh, and not to mention she's loyal and determined."

There was a short silence until Bilbo said, "She's seems like a great person."

"She is, when she's not insulting me, arguing with me, or hitting me." I replied, "So if you guys ever become "more than friends" well, I can only say, good luck with that." I patted his shoulder and looked straight ahead again, smiling smugly to myself. _Hope you like Hobbits, Sam. _

**Samantha's POV**

"D**n my stupid, pain in the ass brother." I complained to Millie and Lizzie, "Uggh, he's so annoying."

"I couldn't agree more." Millie answered.

I sighed, finally regaining my temper, "Though, I can't help but feel a little bad." I confessed, I looked at my best friends, "Do you guys think I was too hard on him?"

"Absolutely not!" Millie answered, "Trust me, I know what's it's like to have pain-in-the-butt siblings. Considering I have three, all younger than me...okay, not little Johnny, but Nikki and Rose."

"Umm, maybe just a little bit?" Lizzie replied.

Millie sighed, "Well, I suppose...I mean, he's like a brother to all of us."

"Should I...I can't believe i'm saying this...apologize to him?" I asked.

"I don't know." said Millie.

"Lizzie?" we turned toward her, she was resting her chin in her hands, which were lying on her white pony's head between his ears. She was gazing ahead and sighing, "He's beautiful." she said.

Millie clubbed her across her back lightheartedly, "Earth to Lizzie, hello, do you read me?" I smiled to myself.

"What? Oh...um, i just don't see why you guys can't get along like Fili and Kili." The two boys turned at the sound of their names and smiled at Lizzie, who flipped her hair with the back of her hand, smiled, and waved at them, still resting on her pony.

"Ooooh," said Millie with a wide grin, "Looks like someone's in love."

Lizzie glared at her, "I don't what your-woooah," _SPLASH._ She fell off the pony and landed in a puddle. Her pony stopped swiftly and reared, causing eveyrone else to stop their own. Millie and I jumped off our ponies.

"Oh my God!" Millie yelped.

"S**t." I added. We ran over to help her up, soon joined by everyone else. She was soaked and muddy from the puddle. "Lizzie, you okay?" Millie asked.

"It's okay, it's okay, nobody panic, i'm fine." Lizzie said as Millie started to dust her off. Lizzie batted her away, "I'm fine Mill. Yeesh." there was a snip in her voice as she climbed back on her pony. She angrily flipped her hair from her face and looked straight ahead, her back turned to everyone. I turned to Millie, who looked taken aback and near tears. She glared after Lizzie, "I was only trying to help." there was anger in her voice as she climbed back on her pony, avoiding all contact with Elizabeth. I climbed back on my own pony beside Millie and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "She didn't mean it Millie, she was just embarrassed."

"Well she didn't need to snap." Millie retorted. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone climbed back on their ponies and set off again.

**Lizzie's POV**

I had no idea how long we'd been traveling in the rain, but it seemed like hours. Everyone was wet and cold and in no mood for talking, especially me, because, along with being cold and wet, I was muddy and sore from my fall and annoyed because everyone kept checking on me and asking if I was okay, even Thorin. Thorin, for goodness sake! I mean really? Seriously? Plus, I even got a scolding from Gandalf about the proper way to ride steeds! "You need to be more careful, you could have gotten seriously hurt." the wizard had said.

"Yes I know." I had answered.

"Though," *twinkling eyes and sly grin*, "It all could have been avoided if you had not been paying so much attention to a certain dwarf." He had chuckled and I had turned pink in the cheeks.

"Thank you very much Gandalf." I had said sarcastically.

Gandalf had laughed and patted me on the shoulder, "Young love," he had said, "Quite a show."

o0o

"Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" asked Dori after about two hours.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world then you should find yourself another wizard." Gandalf replied.

"Are there any?" asked Bilbo.

"What?"

"Other wizards."

"There are five of us," Gandalf answered, "the greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards, you know, I have quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?" inquired the hobbit.

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown." Gandalf replied.

"Is he a great wizard...or is he...more like you?"

_That wasn't very nice. _I thought, though there was a small grin on my face.

"I thing he is a very great wizard, in his own way. He is a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals over others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world." Gandalf explained.

**Millie's POV**

On normal rainy days I would have loved rain. On normal rainy days, I would be very talkative. On normal rainy days I wouldn't feel gloomy. Well, one thing was for sure, this was not a normal rainy day. One, I was in no mood to talk, and two, I was very gloomy. "Well, I would be just fine if Lizzie wouldn't of snapped at me." I muttered.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" inquired a gruff voice. I looked beside me, I had forgotten Thorin was there and realized that he had just spoken.

"Oh, I was just muttering to myself." I answered.

"People only mutter when something is troubling them," the leader said, "What is wrong?"

"I-it's stupid-I'd hate to worry you, you already have a lot on your mind." I answered shyly.

"It is fine, just tell me." he protested, though he spoke in a gentle voice.

"Well, I'm just a little upset with Lizzie for yelling at me. I mean, I was only trying to help her."

There was a block of silence.

I turned my head away bashfully and flushed pink, "Go ahead, tell me I'm being ridiculous."

He disregarded my comment and said, "She was embarrassed, I could see it in her eyes. she didn't mean to snap at you, in fact, it was not at all anything to do with you, she was mad herself."

There was another block of silence as I took in Thorin's advice. "Thank you, Thorin. Thanks a ton. ...And, she did apologize."

"What did she say?"

"She said, "I'm so sorry Millie, I didn't mean it, I'm really sorry.""

Thorin managed a small smile, "Exactly what I told you. She didn't mean anything against you."

"Thank you so much Thorin." I said.

"Of course Millie." I smiled at him...I think I was starting to like this dwarf.

"But you know, it kind of serves her right. It could have been prevented if she wasn't focusing on my nephew more than her riding." he commented. I smiled slyly.

"So she's really that obvious?" I said to myself.


	6. Of Cave Trolls and Cooking Dwarf

CHAPTER 6

OF CAVE TROLLS AND COOKING DWARF

**AN- 'Ello people, sorry this took so long to post, I've been busy. **

**Lizzie's POV**

It had finally stopped raining when we arrived at an old, abandoned farmhouse that was in ruins. For some odd reason, even in the daylight, the place gave me the creeps.

"We'll camp here for the night." Thorin said, "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

Gandalf went inside the ruins of the house, looking a little nervous and slightly sorrowful, "A farmer and his family used to live here." no one acknowledged him...but I heard him clearly, and began to feel a small bit of fear in my mind as I tried to figure out what happened to them.

"Oin, Gloin," Thorin continued.

"Aye?" asked the red-head.

"Get a fire going." Thorin replied.

"Right you are." Gloin answered.

"What about us?" I asked.

"You can help tend the ponies." Thorin replied, walking towards the ruin of the house.

"Well, okay." I shrugged and began to take off my pony's tack. "There you go boy." I patted him in his back and gave him a little shove as he trotted toward the others and began to graze with them. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and turned, the Durin brothers were standing behind me, and I couldn't help but feel a little insecure. I was such a mess- My clothes were damp and muddy, I was dirty from head to toe, and my hair was tangled and matted.

"You look terrible." Kili commented with a mischievous grin and twinkle in his eyes.

I glared at the young dwarf, "Thank you." I said sarcastically.

"Do you have any extra clothes in your knapsack?" he asked.

"Umm...my gym clothes, but they look worse than this." I replied.

"I'm sure they can't be that bad."

"They're dirty." I argued.

"Are they covered in mud?"

"Well...no...but..." I was going to tell him that they smelled like sweat..but that would've been awkward, "Alright, you win, I'll go change into my gym clothes."

"When you're done meet me right here." he sat on a log that was near where the ponies were grazing.

"Okay."

With that, I turned and headed towards the old house, only to find Gandalf storming the other way.

"Gandalf, where are you going?" I asked.

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense." Gandalf replied. He sounded angry.

"And who's that?" I asked.

"Myself, Miss Elizabeth!" he snapped. Then he was gone.

"Well then." I muttered. With that, I made my way towards the old house. Soon after though, someone else stormed past me, knocking into me, causing me to nearly fall, I glared after them, it was Thorin. I don't understand what Millie sees in that haughty, pissy dwarf. I thought. I shook my head and headed into the house and changed into my gym clothes. After I was done, I peered into a broken mirrior and made a disgusted face, I looked even worse than I did in my muddy clothes, but, however, they were a bit more comfortable. I shrugged my shoulders and headed out, trying my best to go unoticed by the others. Unfortunately for me though, I was soon found by Marley. Oh no.

Marley chuckled, "Where are you going dressed like that?" he asked.

"That's none of your concern." I replied, trying to get away, "Now if you'll excues me-"

He stopped me, "Wait a minute, you're going to go see your little play-thing." he sneered.

I slapped him harshly in the shoulder, "He is NOT my play-thing your perve! He's not even my boyfriend, we're just friends. -And plus it was his idea anyway."

"Mmm hmm, sure." he replied.

I shoved him aside, "Move!" I stormed off toward our spot. Kili was waiting for me there. He smiled when I appeared and patted a spot next to him on the log, beckoning for me to sit down.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked with a smile.

"I was wondering if you want to take a walk with me." he said bashfully.

"Of course." I replied, "But aren't you supposed to watch the ponies?"

"Fili can." he said, "He can manage without me for a while. Hey Fil?"

The blonde dwarf turned to his brother, "Yes?"

"Can you keep an eye on the ponies for a while? Lizzie and I are going for a walk."

"Yes of course, but how long will you be gone?"

"We'll be back at dark." answered the dark-haired dwarf.

Fili looked up at the sky, it was early dusk. "Alright."

"Thanks Fil." Kili jumped off the log and extended a hand for me. I took it with slightly pink cheeks as he helped me off the log. We headed off into the forest, hand in hand.

"We passed a creek earlier and I thought you might want to wash up a little." he said to me.

"Oh, yeah, i'd love to." He led me deeper into the forest until I heard the sound of running water. The creek appeared in front of us- it was white water and I could feel the coolness as we approached it. I shivered.

"Here," said Kili, leading me to a different part of the creek, "The water is not as fast-flowing here."

"Thanks," I leaned down and washed my face and hands in the creek. I then looked at my reflection in the water, "Sorry for the ugly clothes." I apologized.

Kili set a hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him, "Nothing about you is ugly, Lizzie, you are beautiful...in every way."

"You really think that?" I asked.

"Of course I do." he replied, smiling widely.

o0o

**Samantha's POV**

I found myself inside the ruins of the house, looking around worriedly for Gandalf, and lingering around the cooking fire waiting for the food.

"It's been a long time." Bilbo said.

"He's a wizard," said Bofur, "He does as he chooses. Here do us a favor, take this to the lads." he handed us each a bowl of soup for Fili and Kili. We left without another word.

"He'll be back soon, don't worry," I said, setting a hand on his shoulder.

Bilbo looked at me, "I hope your right." he said.

I patted his shoulder, "I know I am. Now c'mon, let's go." We stepped out into the dark and headed towards the forest where Fili and Kili were watching the ponies. They were staring straight ahead with nervous, fearful faces and did not take the soup.

"What's the matter?" asked Bilbo.

"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies." Kili said.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem." Fili added.

"We had twenty." Kili said.

"Now there's eighteen." Fili said. We all examined the group of ponies.

"Daisy and Bungo are missing." Kili realized.

"Well that's not good...not good at all." Bilbo commented, "Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uhh, no. Let's not worry him." Fili answered, "As our official burglars, we thought you guys might want to look into it."

"Well, obviously something big uprooted these trees." I verbalized.

"That was our thinking." Kili remarked.

"something very big and possibly quite dangerous." Bilbo commented.

Sh*t. I knew what was coming.

"Hey, look, there's a light!" Fili said, running quietly through the forest. We followed him and crouched down behind a log. The light was a fire and harsh laughter sounded near it.

"What is that?" asked Bilbo, nervously.

"Trolls." Kili answered, venom in his voice. Fili and Kili ran toward the fire, and us burglars followed after Bilbo ran back to grab the bowls of soup left on the log. We hid behind a tree and caught sight of a huge troll lumbering through the forest with a pony under each arm.

"He's got Myrtle and Checkers!" I exclaimed, noticing my own pony.

"They're going to eat them!" yelped Bilbo in alarm, "We have to do something."

"Yes," The brothers gave us a small shove, "You should," said Kili, "Mountain Trolls are slow and stupid and you two are so small, they'll never see you."

Bilbo started to protest.

"It's perfectly safe," Kili protested, "We'll be right behind you." They kept shoving us along.

"If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, and once like a brown owl." Fili instructed.

I heard Bilbo whispering the instructions to himself and getting mixed up. We turned toward the direction we had come, "Are sure this is a good idea?" But they were already out of sight.

"You're going to owe me Durin brothers." I muttered. I looked ahead, there were three trolls sitting around the fire-Tom, Bert, and William. William had on a dirty vest and Bert wore an apron.

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton tomorrow." said Bert.

"Quit yer' griping! These ain't sheep, these is West Nags." Tom replied.

"Oh I don't like 'orse, I never 'ave, not enough fat on them." William, whose voice was of higher tone than the other two, complained.

"Well, it's better than that leathery old farmer. All skin and bone, 'e was, I'm still picking bits of him out of me teeth." Bert replied. William sneezed into the pot over the fire. "Oh, that's lovely that is; a floater." Bert commented, mixing it in.

I made a disgusted face. _Wouldn't wanna go there for dinner. H**l, I'd probably be the dinner. _I thought.

"Oh, might improve the flavor." added Tom.

"Ah, there's more where that came from." He started to sneeze again, but Bert grabbed him by the nose.

"Oh no you don't!" Bert snapped, throwing him down, "Sit down."

"Ow, ow, ow!" yelped William troll.

Bilbo looked at me and nodded, motioning with his hand to slip behind the trolls toward the pen where the ponies were held. We crouched down beside the pen and started to yank on the rough, tight braids of the rope. _I can't get it. _He mouthed.

I nodded. I was normally good at undoing knots, but these were tight. _These trolls are so stupid yet they can tie a really good knot. _I thought. Suddenly, I caught sight of a long knife on William's belt. I tapped Bilbo on the shoulder and pointed at the knife, he saw it and turned back to me, _Go get it. _I mouthed. He nodded, but suddenly, grabbed me and hid behind a large bush, for William had looked our way, "I hope yer gonna gut these Nags, I don't like the stinky parts." He said to Bert, turning away from our direction. I nodded at Bilbo and we darted out of our hiding place. I crouched back at the fence and started working on the knot again and Bilbo went for the knife.

o0o

My task was interrupted by a yelp from William, "Argh! Blimey. Bert! Bert! What's come out of me 'ooter? It's got arms and legs and everything!"

S**t, he's got Bilbo! I grabbed a rock that fit perfectly in my palm, edged closer to the trolls and threw it at William, hitting hi square in the forehead, "Ow, ow!" he yelped, dropping Bilbo and clutching his head. I darted underneath and around the trolls and grabbed Bilbo, slinging him over my shoulder quickly, despite him being covered in troll-snot and ran toward safety, only to be grabbed by Tom, who held me upside down by my legs. I dropped Bilbo, who didn't have time to slip away, as he was quickly grabbed by Tom and held upside down by his legs. Plan, I needed a plan, quick! Then, I thought of it- I took in as much breath as I could muster, and did something a girl does best-scream. I let out a long, ear-piercing note, sustaining for as long as I could.

"AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!" Bilbo cringed, the trolls squealed, Tom threw us and they slapped their hands over their ears. I fell to the ground with a loud thud and Bilbo crashed onto me. I let out a yelp, getting the wind just about knocked from me. That was when there were a series of yells and there came the company, crashing through the trees and attacking the trolls. In the midst of it all, Bilbo and I managed to get ahold of William's knife, freeing the ponies, which fled into the forest. _And there goes our rides. _I thought with anger.

"Sam, look out!" Bilbo yelped, too late. I was once again grabbed and held over the boiling cauldron and so was Bilbo. _F**k._

"Sam!" my friends and brother yelped.

"Bilbo!" exclaimed Kili. They all started to run forward, but the dwarves held them back.

"Lay down your arms, or in they'll go." Tom said. Thorin glared at us and dropped his sword. The rest of the company followed.

o0o

**Millie's POV**

The trolls now had several dwarves and Marley tied and being roasted on a spit over the fire while the rest of us layed tied up in sacks in a heap on the ground. Elizabeth was beside me, along with a very angry Samantha. She screamed curses at the trolls (and in Thorin's ear). "LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW YOU (insert swear word of choice) (insert swear word of choice) OR I WILL (insert swear word of choice) BREAK OUT OF HERE AND BEAT YOUR (insert swear word of choice) SORRY ASSES TO NOTHING!"

"Cursing at them won't help anything." Commented a very irritated Thorin.

"It helps me with my anger." She replied hastily.

"Don't bother cooking them." said William, "Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." Bert stated.

"Is this really necessary!?" yelped Dori.

"Ooh that does sound quite nice." William commented.

"Untie us, you monsters!" Oin snapped.

"Take on someone your own size." raged Gloin.

Everyone was making noises and talking in fear. Those of us who were tied in the sacks were wriggling and rolling too. I looked up at the spit nervously-so nervous I couldn't speak. Marley was up there- and little Ori was too! –Plus, I was next! Help me!

"Never mind the seasoning; we ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away so let's get a move on! I don't fancy being turned to stone." I heard Samantha huff. Suddenly, Bilbo stood up, "Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!"

"You can't reason with them, they're half-wits!" Dori yelped.

"You what?" asked Tom.

"Uh, I meant with the uh, with, uh, with the seasoning." Bilbo replied.

"What about the seasoning?" Bert inquired.

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

All the dwarves began to protest and yell at Bilbo, and the ones in the sacks kicked him. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" Tom challenged.

"Shut up and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk." Bert said.

"Uh, th-the secret to cooking dwarf is, um—"

"Yes? Come on." Bert urged.

"It's uh—"

"Yes, tell us the secret!" Bert replied.

"Ye—yes, I'm telling you, the secret to cooking dwarf is…to…"

He peered around, all eyes were on him.

"Skin them first." He finished.

"Tom get me the filleting knife." Bert instructed.

All the dwarves began to protest.

"I'll skin you, you little—" Gloin threatened.

"I won't forget that!" Dwalin said.

"What a load of rubbish!" Tom commented, "I've eaten plenty with their skins on! Scuff them, I say, boots and all!"

"'e's right," William said, "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf. Nice and crunchy!" William grabbed Bombur and dangled him upside down over his mouth, ready to eat him.

"Not—not that one, he—he's infected." Bilbo said.

"You what?" Tom asked.

"Yeah he's got worms in his…tubes."

William threw Bombur back in the pile with disgust.

"In-in fact they all have, they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." Bilbo said.

"Parasites? Did he say parasites!?" inquired Oin.

"We don't have parasites! You have parasites!" Kili yelped.

"What are you talking about laddie?" asked Gloin loudly.

I rolled my eyes, sometimes these dwarves were so…stupid. Thorin kicked the dwarves, and I helped, as we understood Bilbo's plan.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm." Oin said.

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili added.

"We're riddled." Nori said from the spit.

"Yes, I'm riddled." Ori said after his brother.

"What would you have us do then, let 'em all go?" Tom asked.

"Well…"

The troll approached Bilbo and poked him in the stomach sharply, "You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" he said angrily.

"Ferret?" Bilbo's voice jumped an octave and I started to snicker.

"Fools?" Bert replied.

Suddenly, Gandalf appeared on top of a large rock above the clearing, "The dawn will take you all!"

"Who's that?" asked Bert.

"No idea." answered Tom.

"Can we eat 'im too?" William chimed in dumbly.

I smiled and shook my head. Gandalf slammed his staff on the rock, splitting it in half, sunlight poured in to the clearing, and amidst their screams and howls of pain, the trolls were turned to stone. Everyone cheered for Gandalf. We were free! Of course, though, the dwarves and Marley on the spit still looked uncomfortable. "Oh, get your foot out of my back!" Dwalin groaned.

I smiled and shook my head again, _Dwarves._ I thought, still grinning.

* * *

**AN- Quick reminder, this is the last chapter for pairing requests for Millie, so please tell me what you think- Ori, Thorin...or, new dwarf,Fili :) After this chapter I won't except anymore requests. And don't worry, I won't get mad of who you choose, like I said, I love all of them, so any of them are fine :) Thanks so much for the support everyone :) And don't forget to Review!**

**-Luv**


	7. The Warg Chase

CHAPTER 7

THE WARG CHASE

**AN- First of all, I must begin by saying "thank you" to all my supporters who gave me their input on the poll. :) However, I will not tell you who I will be pairing Millie with, it's a surprise. Thanks again everyone. :)**

**-Luv**

**Marley's POV**

It took a while, but at long last, everyone had been freed from the sacks and the spit. Still though, I didn't know what was worse- being cooked by trolls, or being trapped on a spit with a bunch of loud, complaining dwarves. Well either way, both were pretty uncomfortable; however, it was still funny to hear Sam scream cuss words at the trolls. I smiled to myself and shook my head, glancing briefly at her, her face was still flushed red in anger, though it was more of a pink now. Yeah, it took her a while to calm down, actually, when she was freed, she was fuming, and was really close to about slapping the Durin brothers. She didn't because Elizabeth threatened to kick her ass if she hurt them, and also I splashed her with cold water, which wasn't a good idea because I got clubbed across the cheek (it still stings) she did, however, scold them, though I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, because Thorin also scolded them. Anyway, yeah.

o0o

I was in the middle of refilling my water bottle by the stream when Elizabeth skipped up to me, "You wanna go down in the troll-hoard with us?" she asked.

"Eww, no." I replied. There was a quick silence when she said,

"Well okay." She replied, starting to skip back.

"Bring me back a scythe if you find one!" I called after her.

"Okay." was her reply.

_After being held captive by trolls, she seems oddly cheerful. _I thought, _Hmm…._

**Lizzie's POV **

I plugged my nose as we entered the troll hoard.

"Oh, what is that stench?" Nori asked in disgust.

"It's a troll hoard." Gandalf said, "Be careful what you touch."

"Ach, spider webs." I heard Millie say.

As we entered, all around us were treasures of all kinds. I stared in awe at all the beautiful jewels around us.

"Seems a shame just to leave it lyin' around." Bofur said, "Anyone could take it."

"Agreed. Nori get a shovel." was Gloin's response.

I examined the treasure, looking for any piece of jewelry. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I turned around, Kili was holding something in his palm, "Umm, I figured you might like this," he held out a beautiful necklace with a circlet wielded in a pattern of loops and curves, in the center of it was a blue jewel, if I remember, it is correctly called a silver-moon necklace.

"It's beautiful Kili." I said.

"The blue gem reminded me of your eyes," he said, "Can I put it on?"

"Of course." I kneeled down so he could fasten the clamp.

"There you go." I stood back up and he looked at me in wonder, "Beautiful." He said. I smiled and then resumed my exploring, I was looking for weapons. I soon found a bow and a set of arrows. By the looks of it, it seemed to be from Mirkwood. I put the bow and quiver on my back. There weren't very many arrows left, so I would use the ones in there sparingly. I soon came across and Elvish sword too. I picked it up and examined it, it seemed pretty good, so I put the sash around me and stood up tall, scanning for my friends. Sam was on her hands and knees digging through dust and leaves, two long, silver axes were on her back. I walked over to her, "Whatchya lookin' for?" I asked.

"A double-scythe for Marley." She replied.

I began to dig through the leaves and dust as well, when I came across something metallic, I picked it up, it was a long double-sword. "I don't think there are any scythes," I said, "But there is a double-sword." I held it up for her to see.

She studied it for a moment as she put a set of throwing axes in her belt, "Close enough." She said, "C'mon, let's go." She started to exit the troll cave. I followed, the moment she got a look at me she said, "Where'd you get that?"

"What? The necklace? Oh, umm, Kili found it for me.

"OMG! Awwwwwwwww!" Sam's voice squealed, causing everyone else to turn and look at us.

"Umm…" My face flushed, "Nothing to see here." I said, before gently shoving Sam, beckoning her to come with me. We exited the cave.

**Millie's POV**

I huffed. I couldn't find a sword! I had looked everywhere, well, almost, besides for the areas covered in cobwebs. I wasn't going to touch the webs if I didn't have to. Though, it seemed as if I might. However, I would not leave the hoard empty-handed; I had found some throwing knives, a silver dagger, and a set of mediocre -sized duel swords.

I was digging through a pile of leaves when a gruff voice sounded behind me, "Millie." I turned, Thorin had spoken, he beckoned me over to him, "Come here."

"Umm, okay." I walked over to him, he was holding out a long Elvish blade. I took it from him. However, I was so surprised by the weight that I dropped the sword. It clattered to the ground loudly, stirring up a fair amount of dust that made me cough and sneeze. I shook my head, bent down to pick up the weapon, and put it on with the sash.

"You'll get the hang of it eventually." Gandalf said, approaching me and setting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I turned and smiled.

"Thanks Gandalf." I said.

"Anything for you young lady." He said, his eyes twinkling again. I beamed.

"Let's get out of this foul place," Thorin said finally, "C'mon, let's go. Bofur, Gloin, Nori!" Everyone exited the cave. The light was almost blinding to me, but at least now I could breathe the fresh air again.

"Hey Millie!" Lizzie said when she saw me, "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah." I showed her my new weapons.

"Duel swords huh?" she commented, "Nice, so, have you asked Thorin to give you combat lessons?"

"Umm….." I caught a glimpse of something around her neck; it was a silver-moon circlet necklace, "Hey, where'd you get that?" I asked.

"Kili found it for me." She answered, "He said the gem reminded him of my eyes." She blushed.

"Aww, so cute." I smiled, "And, uhh, no, not yet."

"You should." She said.

"I don't know…he's kind of got a lot on his mind…"

"Nonsense, that's just an excuse, you know you want to ask him, so you should."

"Umm…okay."

"I swear if you don't, I'll make you!"

"Alright, alright, calm your face, Liz, I will. I just don't know when." I glanced in his direction; I also caught a glimpse of Ori sitting on a rock, writing in a journal. _He looks lonely. _I thought sadly.

"You better." She mumbled.

"Something's coming!" Thorin's voice exclaimed.

"Stay together!" Gandalf ordered, "Hurry now. Arm yourselves!" I drew my long sword and followed everyone into the woods and there came Radagast on his rabbit-sled, riding full speed.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" The brown wizard yelled. He suddenly stopped short in front of us.

"Radagast! Radagast the Brown. Ah. What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you Gandalf." The wizard spoke swiftly, "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

"Yes?" Gandalf inquired.

Radagast opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. He repeated this twice, he had forgotten what he was going to say.

"Oh, just give me a minute. Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was right there on the tip of my tongue." He curled up his tongue, and looked in surprise, "Oh. It's not that at all, it's just a little old…"

Gandalf pulled a little stick insect out of Radagast's mouth.

"—Stick insect." Radagast finished.

Everyone looked flustered. Then the two wizards went off a few paces to speak privately to one another, leaving the company in an awkward silence.

"Well this is awkward." Elizabeth said.

"With you Lizzie, everything's awkward." Marley commented.

"Hey, that's not true!" Elizabeth replied, her voice jumping an octave.

"You know it is." He replied. Lizzie slapped him in the arm.

"Let off her Marley." I said. Suddenly, a howl sounded in the distance.

"Was that a wolf?" asked Bilbo, "Are there—are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf." Suddenly, a warg jumped out from a nearby crag into the midst of the company, knocking over Sam and one of the dwarves. Thorin killed it instantly using his sword. Another warg appeared. Kili shot it with an arrow to bring it down. However, it got back up, only to be killed by Dwalin.

"Warg scouts!" Thorin said with disdain in his voice, "Which means an orc-pack is not far behind."

"Orc-pack!?" Bilbo echoed.

"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin!?" demanded Gandalf.

"No one!" Thorin replied hastily.

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf said again.

"No one I swear!" Thorin snapped, "What in Durin's name is going on!?"

"You are being hunted."

Fear began to bubble inside of me.

"We have to get out of here." Dwalin said.

"We can't!" Ori replied in alarm, "We have no ponies, they bolted."

"I'll draw them off." said Radagast.

"These are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you." Gandalf said.

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I'd like to see them try." Radagast replied.

"Very well." Then Radagast was gone. We watched as he and his rabbits shot out of the forest. The wargs started to chase him. We watched as they disappeared in the distance.

"Come on!" Gandalf ordered. At once, we all took off across a rocky plain. Truth be told, I couldn't have been more afraid in my life. I was sweating, running as fast as I could, and losing steam. I could hear the howls of the wargs in the distance, and I could almost taste the fear. I could feel the intensity. I was grateful when we found shelter behind some large rocks.

"Stay together!" Gandalf barked.

"Move!" Thorin ordered. We were on the run again. Soon after though, we hid behind some more rocks, so we were not seen by the wargs. We were panting and I felt as though I could faint. Then, Ori started to run out of cover. "Ori no!" I grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf yelled. Everyone started to run again. At once I began to sing Titanium in my head, attempting to ease my nerves, and keep my mind off of running. We caught sight of another rock outcropping and made a run to dart behind it, that's when it happened; I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground, landing hard and painfully, I let out a yelp as I went down. My friends froze at once and whipped around, there was a chorus of alarmed cries of "Millie!" I felt rough, heavy hands and someone pulled me up and half dragged me across to the shelter and let me down somewhat roughly, it was Thorin, "You ought to be more careful." He scolded. I said nothing; I was in pain and fear. I just stared at him with wide eyes, panting. Then, I felt the presence of a warg-scout, it was on the rock, directly above us, I could hear the animal's low growling. Thorin nodded at Kili. The young dwarf darted out into the open and shot the scout with his bow-and-arrow. The scout and the orc fell with a yelp, and were killed by the dwarves instantly. The fight caused a lot of commotion, and at once, with howls and yells, the pack came toward our hiding place.

"Move. Run!" Gandalf commanded. We ran through the grassy plain, and wargs began to surround us from all sides.

"There they are!" exclaimed Gloin.

"This way! Quickly!" Gandalf ordered. We ran for a while longer, but stopped at a clearing when we realized there were orcs on all sides of us.

"There's more coming!" Elizabeth yelped in alarm.

"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin commanded.

"We're surrounded!" Fili yelled. Kili began shooting the wargs and riders, killing some of them.

"Where is Gandalf?" Kili yelped.

I looked around, the wizard wasn't anywhere in sight. "He has abandoned us!" Dwalin accused. We gathered close to each other, backing up toward the rock, our weapons drawn. Ori shot the orc leader and his warg with his slingshot, not use, it just made the warg angrier.

"Hold your gorund!" Thorin commanded.

Suddenly, Gandalf's face popped out from the rock, "This way you fools!" he ordered.

"Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!" Thorin said. With that, we all followed Gandalf, sliding down into the crack of the rock, leading into a cave. Thorin and Kili appeared last. Just as the orcs approached our hiding spot, a horn sounded outside. We listened to the fray from inside the crack when a dead orc slid in with an arrow embedded in him. Thorin plucked the arrow free and examined its make, "Elves." He said with remorse.

I caught sight of a pathway at the end of the cave, leading away.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads," said Dwalin, "Do we follow it or no?"

"Follow it of course." Bofur replied. We all made our way through the narrow pathway, sometimes struggling to get through. Eventually, it opened up, revealing a beautiful valley and a beautiful city, it was Rivendell. _Safe at last. _I smiled.


	8. Rivendell

CHAPTER 8

RIVENDELL PT. 1

**AN- Hey you guys, sorry this took so long to post, I've been busy, like seriously, really busy. I hope none of you thought I neglected the story, I didn't and I never will :) don't worry. :) **

** Millie's POV**

_Safe at last._ I thought with a smile.

"The Valley of Imladris," Gandalf proclaimed, "In the Common Tongue it is known by another name."

"Rivendell." Bilbo smiled.

"Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea." Gandalf said.

Thorin stomped up to the wizard, "This was your plan all along; to seek refuge with our enemy." Thorin said sourly.

"You have no enemies here," Gandalf replied, "The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which bring yourself."

Thorin was quiet, taken aback for a moment and I couldn't help but smirk. Gandalf sure knew how to handle this dwarf. "You think the elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us."

"Of course they will, but we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact and respect and no small degree of charm, which is why you will leave the talking to me." I smirked and we began walking.

**Sam's POV**

I was walking in the back of the company, whistling quietly to myself and staring off into space when a voice interrupted me, "Umm…Sam?"

I peered down at my side, Bilbo was standing beside me.

"Yeah what's up?" I asked.

"Uhh...sorry about the trolls," he said, "I umm…" His cheeks were bright red.

"That's okay Bilbo, but, why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."

"I don't know…I got you in this whole burglar mess."

I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I signed the contract on my own. Don't blame yourself."

"But you didn't want me to be alone in all this, that's why you signed it."

"Well yes, your right, but I also wanted to be a burglar." I stopped and turned to face him, gently putting my hands on his shoulders, I raised his chin with my hand so he could look up into my eyes, "I promise you, this wasn't your fault, anyway, if I didn't want to be burglar I wouldn't have signed it, no matter what you said, I'm as stubborn as a dwarf." I pointed out.

"Make sure to keep up you two." said a gentle voice.

I looked ahead, "Oh, sorry Balin." I grabbed Bilbo's arm, almost pulling him off his feet (sorry little guy) and ran to catch up to the rest of the company.

o0o

**Lizzie's POV**

When our company entered the beautiful Rivendell, a few elves could be seen strolling about. I swear I had never seen any place so beautiful. We stopped in a sort of gazebo-type thing (well it didn't have a roof, but anyway) and faced the stairs, a dark-haired elf walked down the steps.

Marley leaned into my shoulder and whispered, "5 bucks that he's gay." I turned and faced him, glaring, and slugged him in the shoulder.

"That's rude you perve!" I whispered, "He's probably perfectly straight, now shut up and listen."

"Mithrandir." said the elf.

"Ah, Lindir." Gandalf replied, smiling.

"Stay sharp." I heard Thorin whisper to Dwalin.

"_Listannem I athrannedh I Vruinen._" The elf said. (We heard you had crossed into the Valley.)

"I must speak with Lord Elrond."

"My lord Elrond is not here."

"Not here? Where is he?"

Suddenly, the horns that I recognized form earlier were heard. We turned around; a group of armed horsemen were crossing the bridge at a rapid rate.

"_Ifridi bekar!_" Thorin commanded, I looked around to see what he had meant. The rest of the company was drawing their weapons, so I did the same. We all bunched together and I was shoved with my comrades right in the middle of the group. The elves circled us until they stopped, Elrond was in the front.

"Gandalf." said the half-elf, half-man.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf bowed gracefully, "_Mellonen! Mo evinedh?_" (My friend! Where have you been?)

_"Farannem 'lamhoth I udul o charad. Dagnnem rim na lant Vedui._" Elrond replied. (We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass.) Elrond dismounted his horse and gave Gandalf a hug.

"Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone has drawn them near." He said, holding up an orc sword for everyone to see. He then handed it to Lindir.

"Ah, that may have been us." Gandalf confessed.

Elrond studied our group and Thorin stepped forward. Elrond looked upon him, seeming to recognize him. "Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain." He said.

"I do not believe we have met." replied the haughty dwarf.

"You have your grandfather's bearing," Elrond explained, "I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain."

"Indeed; he made no mention of you." Thorin said rather rudely. (Thorin! That was rude!)

Ignoring his insult, Elrond turned to us and said, "_Nartho i noer , toltho i viruvor. Boe I annam vann a nethail vin._ (Light the fires, bring forth the wine. We must feed our guests.)

"What is saying?" Gloin challenged, "Does he offer us insult?" the dwarves tightened their grip on the weapons.

"No, Master Gloin, he is offering you food."

The dwarves discussed among themselves, "Ah well, in that case, lead on." I smiled and shook my head.

o0o

**Samantha's POV **

We were now all sitting around tables in the elven court, eating. However, none of the dwarves seemed to be very appreciative of the vegetables, though for me, they were pretty good, particularly the tomatoes.

"Try it, just a mouthful." Dori told Ori.

"I don't like green food." said the young dwarf.

"Where's the meat!?" Dwalin asked loudly, rummaging through his vegetables. I looked around the table, catching sight of Oin, holding up a vegetable on his knife and glaring at it, growling under his breath.

"Have they got any chips?" asked Ori.

I rolled my eyes at the dwarves. They should be happy; we all get a fancy meal and not to mention beautiful background music.

"Healthy food!?" exclaimed an ungrateful Marley, "What is this!?"

I huffed and turned to him, as he was sitting on my left side, Bilbo on my right, "You too, seriously? You should be happy we get a fancy, delicious meal. Stop complaining and eat it."

"But-"

"Nope."

"I-"

"Nope."

"Sam-"

"Nope."

"Plea-"

"Shut up and eat." I replied.

"Uggh, fine." He stuck his tongue out at me and I replied by hitting him in the shoulder. I rubbed my forehead and sighed.

Little brothers," I muttered, drumming my fingers on the table, "More like little bothers." He may have only been three minutes younger than me, but he acted more like three years younger than me.

"Aggh!" We all snapped our heads toward the direction of Fili, Kili, and Lizzie. The chair in between the brothers had tipped backwards and the boys were looking down as two hands and a head of curly red hair appeared above the table, looking rather irritated. Fili lifted the chair and Kili jumped down from his seat and helped Lizzie.

"Are you okay?" Millie asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She replied. Her face was bright red. Everyone in the court was looking at her. _She must be so embarrassed_. I thought.

"Be careful." Elrond, who had sat down, warned, "I don't want anyone getting seriously hurt."

From then, the rest of the meal went on pretty smoothly, and soon we were done and ready to report to our rooms. Before we did though, Elrond took the four of us aside and said, "By the looks of it, the four of you need new clothing, come with me." He led us into a huge room covered with clothing. In the end the Sam, Lizzie, and I were given shirts with sleeves that came all the way down to our arms that opened up just enough so you could see the inside of the sleeve, with a pretty embroidered pattern on the sleeves, and black pants/leggings tied with brown belts and boots. Millie's shirt was pure blue with gold embroidery and white hems on the sleeves and neck, Lizzie's was a dark pinkish red with light pink embroidery, with white on the hems, and mine was dark grey, almost black with light grey embroidery and white on the sleeves and hem as well. Marley was given a black tunic over a wavy dark red shirt, cinched at the middle with a belt and faded black pants, with black boots. He was also given vambraces, which he claimed hurt his wrists. We were all given black glovettes as well as dark green, almost black cloaks too. I lost track of how many times we said thank you before we finally departed to join the dwarves. We all received many compliments when we entered our quarters from all of them about our new outfits. Gloin had commented on how Marley's garb made him look tough. I smiled at Marley's expression, his face seemed to say, "_Wait, what do you mean? Didn't I already look tough?_" Umm, sorry Marley, but, uhh, no. I smiled to myself and shook my head.

o0o

**Elizabeth's POV **

It was dusk and I was outside on the balcony, practicing my bow and arrow. I was about to call it a day and head back inside when Kili's voice caught me by surprise.

"Hi Lizzie." He said.

"Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Not much, I just came to see if you wanted any help practicing your bow."

"Actually, I'd love some help." I smiled.

"Okay, with what?"

"Well, I've been a little shaky when I notch the bow and aim it."

"I can help with that." Kili walked out to the balcony and came to my side, "Okay, show me what you've got so far."

"Alright." I readied the bow, though I pointed it downwards a bit (possibly on purpose).

"Almost," Kili said, he put his arms around me from the back and gently lifted the bow, "But you have to point the bow outward toward your target." He steadied my arms and hands, putting them in their proper position and pulled back the arrow, his hand on mine, "Umm…" he turned red when he realized what he was doing, "You don't mind do you?"

"Why do you think I wanted you to help me?" I replied smugly. I let go of the arrow, which landed exactly where I wanted, sailing straight forward, dropped the bow at my side and turned to face Kili. We gazed into each other's eyes and both of us turned a little red. It was now night, a perfect night, with a gentle breeze creating a romantic mood. Kili looked down at the necklace he had given me, then back up at me, "I…you…you're very beautiful." He said.

"And you're absolutely adorable." I replied. With that, he put his arms around my waist, and I put mine around his neck, we began to move forward, our lips were just centimeters from touching when, "Kili I was wondering if-" We stopped immediately and turned to face the door, Fili was standing there, "Oh, umm… it, it can wait…sorry for disturbing you." His face turned red and he turned away.

"It's okay Fili." I replied reassuringly, though I couldn't help feeling a little annoyed that he had disrupted Kili and I's first kiss.

"We're playing a game called Truth or Dare inside, I was wondering if you wanted to join in." Fili replied.

"Sure why not, c'mon Kili." I started to head inside.

o0o

Once we were inside, we discovered that everyone was sitting in one big circle on the floor; however, Sam, Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin and Balin were nowhere to be seen. (Good, it'd be kind of awkward with them, well not Sam, but the others) I took my seat in between Fili and Kili who sat beside Marley, beside him was Millie sitting next to Ori, Dori, and Nori, then Bombur, Bofur, and Bifur, then there was Oin and Gloin, then lastly but not least, Dwalin (wow, I actually remembered everyone this time).

"alright so does everyone understand the game?" Marley, who apparently was leading everyone asked.

"No." Kili replied quietly. I quickly explained the game to him and we began. Marley was using the app he had on his phone, so I didn't have to worry about any of Marley's dirty dares (if you know what I mean).

"Okay," Marley shook his cell-phone then read the name of the person it had chosen, "Oin."

"Aye?"

"Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Okay, have you ever cheated at anything?" Marley asked, "That's a stupid question." He muttered.

"Nay, I don't cheat." replied the dwarf.

"Okay, next person." Marley shook the phone, "Millie, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Replied Millie.

"Okay, it says, kiss the person to your left on the cheek." Millie peered beside her where Ori was sitting. The young dwarf smiled bashfully. Millie seemed to blush a little too. She leaned forward and gave the dwarf a peck on the cheek.

"Awwwwwwww!" Marley said. Millie shot him a look that seemed to say, "You better shut up before I hurt you."

"Next!" I exclaimed.

"Okay, okay," he shook the phone again, "Dwalin, truth or dare?"

"Give me a dare."

"Okay…oh this is a good one, it says, go in the middle of circle and dance around singing "I'm a little Teapot."

I slapped a hand over my mouth in order to keep me from laughing, but pretty soon, everyone was laughing loudly at Dwalin's performance, laughed so hard that tears started to fall.

"Okay," Marley said, still forcing back giggles, "Next up is umm, Kili."

"Truth." He said.

"Okay, it says, who in this room to you find most attractive?"

"Umm…uhh…well…uhh…truthfully…Lizzie." he turned bright red and looked away, however, I think I was redder than him.

"You're blushing, ha, ha!" Marley pointed out.

I glared at him. "Next." I said through clenched teeth.

"alright, alright, okay." Marley shook the phone, "Next person is…Gloin."

"Dare." replied the red-head.

"Okay…the dare is, whenever someone asks you a question, acknowledges you, looks at you, or talks to you, you have to bark and act like a dog until your next turn." Everyone turned to look at him.

"This is stupid," he muttered, everyone raised their eyebrows or glared at him, "oh, fine, Woof, woof!" we laughed.

"Okay, next," Marley shook the phone, "Oh, me, okay. I'm going to pick dare. Okay, it says, hug a random person in the game until your next turn." He turned to Millie, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh great," she muttered, "You owe me." With that the two hugged and Marley shook the phone again, "Uhh, Lizzie, truth or dare?"

"Umm, truth, I guess."

"Okay, name one nice quality about everyone in the room."

"Well, okay, Marley, you're annoying ask heck, but there's never a dull moment with you around. Millie, you are awesome, Fili and Kili, you're both cute, umm, Bofur, you've got a kind heart…." It seemed to take forever but I finally managed to tell everyone something I liked about them. "Okay, next."

o0o

**Sam's POV **

I found myself in a dark hall with pale moonlight giving off the only bit of light with Balin, Thorin, Bilbo, Elrond and Gandalf. Gandalf and Thorin were once again arguing.

"Our business is no concern of elves." Thorin protested.

"For goodness sake, Thorin, show him the map!" Gandalf replied.

"It is the legacy of my people; it is mine to protect, as are its secrets." Thorin retorted.

_Show him the friggin' map! _I almost said aloud, however, thought better of it, and said it loudly in my head instead.

"Save me from the stubbornness of Dwarves!" Gandalf said, "Your pride will be your downfall. You stand here in the presence of one of the few in Middle earth who can read that map. Show it to Lord Elrond!"

Thorin thought a minute, and began to hand the map to Elrond, seeming reluctant still, Balin tried to stop him, "Thorin, no!" but the other dwarf brushed his hand away.

"Erebor." Elrond noticed, "What is your interest in this map?"

Thorin was about to speak, but Gandalf interrupted him, "it's mainly academic, as you know this sort of artifact sometimes contains hidden text. You still read ancient Dwarvish do you not?"

Elrond walked a little bit away, reading the map, as the moonlight hit the map, Elrond looked up and said with realization, _"Cirith Ithil."_

"Moon Runes!" Gandalf translated, "Of course, an easy thing to miss."

"Well, in this case, that is true; Moon Runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written." Elrond replied.

"Can you read them?" asked Thorin.

Elrond led us all to an open area outside, on the side of a cliff, with waterfalls all around. I looked up; the moon was behind some clouds. We walked toward a large crystalline table. Elrond set the map down and said, "These Runes were written on a Midsummer's Eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly two-hundred years ago. It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield; the same moon shines upon us tonight." Almost immediately, the clouds floated away, causing the moon to appear. The moon shone upon the crystalline table and went through the map, causing some ancient writing to appear on the map. Elrond, reading the map, translated allowed. "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day, will shine upon the key-hole." He read.

"Durin's Day?" echoed Bilbo.

"It is the start of the dwarves' new year when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together." Gandalf explained.

"This is ill news," Thorin commented, "Summer is passing, Durin's Day will soon be upon us."

"We still have time." Balin said.

"Time? For what?" asked Bilbo.

"To find the entrance. We have to be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened." Balin replied.

"So this is your purpose, to enter the Mountain?" asked Elrond.

"What of it?" Thorin replied curtly.

"There are some who would not deem it wise." Elrond answered. Thorin did not reply, but took the map gruffly.

"Who do you mean?" asked Gandalf.

"You are not the only garden to stand watch over Middle Earth." Elrond responded.

o0o

After the whole ordeal with the Moon Runes, Bilbo, Balin, Thorin, and I had reported back to our quarters. When we arrived, oh, what a sight! Everyone was playing truth or dare. _Oh no._

"Oi, guys!" Millie waved her hand, "Come join us!" she patted the spot in between her and Marley.

"What are they doing?" Bilbo inquired.

"Their playing truth or dare, c'mon, let's join in. I'll teach you how to play." He still looked unsure, but he joined in anyway. Balin joined us too. However, Thorin just stood on the sidelines, observing and probably thinking us crazy. I quickly explained the game to Balin and Bilbo and then we began.

"Okay, as the newbies you guys have the honor of going first." Marley said.

"Umm…okay," I said, "Bilbo, truth or dare?"

"Umm…dare." He said.

"Okay, uhh…" I began. _Dang it! I can't think of one! _

"Kiss Sam on the cheek!" Marley blurted out.

"It's not your turn!" I exclaimed.

"Good dare Marley." Lizzie said, snickering.

I sighed, "Well, since I currently don't have any good dare, sure whatever. Come here Bilbo."

The little hobbit leaned over bashfully and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"AWWWWWWWW!" Marley said.

"Shut up!" I replied, slugging the obnoxious boy in the shoulder. We played truth or dare for a while longer and then got bored. The dwarves cooked dinner and after the four of us were full, we lay down and were knocked out in a matter of minutes.

**AN- Not my best chapter, but I tried, so please review, and no flames. Thanks again guys, and don't worry, I'll be posting more frequently now, love you all. :)**

**-Luv**


	9. The Thunder Battle

CHAPTER 9

THE THUNDER BATTLE

**AN- Hello all! So I know I said I would post more frequently, but since I've been suffering from a Writer's Block, I couldn't do much. I apologize for the wait, here it is now. Enjoy my friends!**

**- Luv**

**Marley's POV**

I was awoken to someone prodding my side with my sister's voice in my ear. "Get up Marley." she said, "it's time to go." I blinked open my eyes and I could just make out her face.

"Leave me alone Sam." I groaned and turned my back to her, swishing the blanket over my head.

"Come on you lazy ass, Thorin says it's time to go, we're the last ones, they're waiting for us outside."

_All the more reason as to not get up._ I thought, _King Thorn-in-his-Ass can wait._

"Marley, come on!" Sam whipped the blanket off me and I shivered, pulling myself into a ball. "Get up!" she grumped, "now."

"What is the hold up here?" came a gruff voice that I would have preferred not hereafter this morning. Speaking of King Thorn-in-his-Ass...

"Him." Sam replied, meaning me.

I heard boot-steps coming toward my bed.

"Master Carlyle, I suggest you get up." Thorin said, gruffly as usual.

I didn't complain. I sat up swiftly, and got out of bed and at once began packing up my stuff and putting on my vest, boots, vambraces, cloak, and glove things, making zero eye contact with anyone until I heard Thorin walk out of the room leaving just Samantha and I, feeling awkward.

"C'mon." she said, leading me out of the room.

oOo

"There you guys are!" exclaimed Millie and Lizzie in unison when they saw us.

"We were wondering when you were gonna show up." Lizzie said.

"Sorry for the wait everyone." Sam apologized.

"It's alright lassie," Balin replied, "But we best get going now, we've already wasted enough time as it is." Sam nodded at the older dwarf before we headed off. I took one last longing glance at Rivendell, sorry that I had to leave. I would've stayed there...but since Sam was going, I would too. If my sister were to...not make it through the journey, I would go down with her, because, losing her was the last thing I wanted.

I soon found myself lost in thought as we made our way, headed towards the Misty Mountains I think. We trekked over vast plain lands and many beautiful landscapes until I felt the air grow cooler and the altitude grow higher, so I knew we were getting closer to the mountains. Trees were less frequently seen and the ground began to grow rough and hilly. It started to get dark when we entered the Misty Mountains. Satisfied after our day's journey, we began to search for a place to settle down for the night. The place was very unpromising; all there were was rocks, open areas, and rough terrain. I felt like we were never gonna find somewhere to camp...that was until Lizzie found a collection of large rocks bunched together with many cracks and crevices big enough and sheltered enough for us to fit in. We made our way down toward it and prepared to settle down for the night. We weren't too far into the mountains so Thorin had allowed us a fire, but he said this was the last night until we were out of the Misty Mountains. _Great. Now I'll be cold at night._ I thought. Once we had settled down, Bofur and Bombur cooked some meat and stew over the fire, which was actually pretty good, despite the fact that that was the same meal every night. When I was done eating, I felt content, as it had been a filling meal, and I laid down between two of the rocks and drifted off.

**Millie's POV **

I tossed and turned in my make-shift bedding trying to get comfortable. I couldn't sleep, I would attempt to drift off, but then shift positions, and when I did fall asleep, I had unpleasant dreams about being attacked by Wargs and I would wake up in cold sweat, clutching my sword in a death-grip, panting, I didn't know how many times it happened, but it was at least twice. So, finally, I got up and decided to take a stroll through the camp, or maybe to look ahead. I was pacing around camp and I almost tripped over a couple of the sleeping dwarves as I made my way to the large boulder at the head of the camp so I could climb it. However, it seemed one of the dwarves had beat me to it, I could just make him out in the fire-glow…it was Ori, writing in his journal. I scrambled up as quietly as I could to the top of the boulder, which had a flat, semi-smooth surface, good for a place to sit, and sat beside him, "Hi Ori." I said quietly. The dwarf jumped, closing his journal quickly and turned to me, startled.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." I said.

"No, it's okay." He replied smiling a little bashfully, "What are you doing up so late?"

"I couldn't sleep," I replied, "I'm a little restless for whatever reason. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm on watch."

I giggled. "Oh right, I knew that."

"Well, umm, since you can't sleep, you're welcome to sit with me." He said bashfully.

I smiled at him, "I think I will." He smiled before resuming writing in his journal, there was an awkward silence until I finally said, "Are you alright?"

Ori looked at me, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, you just seem kind of…sad." I said, "If you want we could talk about it."

"Well…" he began, "The truth is…I feel kind of…lonely and out of place. No one really talks to me, except my brothers, but even then they only scold me or nag me. I also feel like a burden sometimes too. I can't do anything right and I just get us into more trouble with my stupid slingshot. I embarrass myself…and Fili and Kili like to pick on me, they're not mean…it's just—" He stopped mid-sentence and turned his head away, I could hear him sniffling. I pulled the small dwarf in a hug, he returned the favor "Oh Ori, you know that isn't true, you aren't a burden, and I'm always gonna be here if you want someone to talk to, and as for the slingshot…that's an awesome weapon, and if you want, I can help you learn how to use a blade. He stopped hugging me and sniffed, smiling up at me, "Do you mean it?"

"Of course." I replied.

"Thanks Millie." He said.

"Of course." I smiled. Then we sat side-by-side together and soon, I felt Ori's head fall into my shoulder, so I carried him to his sleeping place and gently laid him down, covering him up with blanket. I leaned over and place a quick kiss on his cheek and woke Balin for the next watch, then settled down to get some sleep, I was finally tired and nodded off the moment I lay down.

**Samantha's POV**

The next morning dawned grey and gloomy. There was a storm coming. _Great, more rain!_ I thought after I had been roused from my sleep in the morning by Marley who I accidentally, okay, maybe a little intentionally, slapped in the face for trying to rouse me. (Sorry Mar Mar). We set off at once after eating _Lembas_ bread, which was actually pretty good, it tasted like a fortune cookie, anyway, we then continued our long and painful trek through the Misty Mountains.

o0o

It was dark and cold and we were caught in the midst of a thunderstorm as we made our way across a dangerous, narrow path. We were standing on a narrow cliff, a sheer drop beside us, as we pressed against the rock wall and tried to shimmy across it. Bilbo was beside me and I would turn to make sure he was okay every once in a while. Once, I saw the ground gave way underneath Bilbo's feet and he began to fall into the chasm, I grabbed him swiftly, digging my hand into the rough rock so I wouldn't fall as I grabbed him and pulled him to safety, scraping up my hand in the process as it dragged over the rock when I nearly lost my balance, but I ignored it. He stared up at me in gratitude, "Be careful." I warned.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin's voice exclaimed through the storm. Suddenly, I caught sight of a massive boulder hurtling through the air, seeming to be coming toward us.

"WATCH OUT!" I yelled at the top my lungs. We pressed ourselves against the mountain side as the boulder crashed into the mountainside above, causing rocks to fall all around us.

"This is no thunderstorm!" exclaimed Balin, "It's a Thunder Battle, look!" I stared in horror and awe as a stone giant reared up from a nearby mountain and ripped a huge boulder from the top of another.

"Well bless me; the legends are true," Bofur said, "Giants! Stone Giants!"

"Take cover!" replied Thorin, "You'll fall!"

"What's happening!?" Kili yelped.

The first giant threw the boulder far into the air; another one appeared from behind us and was hit in the chest, causing it to fall back against the mountain side. Everyone yelled at one another to brace and hold on, when the rocks beneath our feet began to give way from all the vibrations and from the impact of the falling rocks. Then it split, half of us were on one side, and the other half was on the other. "Kili!" exclaimed Fili, "Grab my hand! Kil-" We were now clutching onto the knees of a third giant.

"SAM! LIZZIE!" Millie screamed from the other side as we were separated.

"Hold on Liz!" I yelped. She looked at me with wide eyes and nodded as our giant was head-butted by one of the others, causing him to fall back against the mountain. This caused me to dig my hands in the rock, as I had almost lost my footing. Then, I realized I was screaming. I watched as the other half of the company ran off of the giant onto another part of the cliff. Then, our giant began to fist-fight with the other one. We were once again yelling at each other to brace, look out, and hold on. Then, our giant got punched in the face. He began to fall backwards. I watched in horror as the knee we were on began to hurl towards the canyon wall, we were screwed. I could hear myself, Lizzie, and Millie shrieking. Then, I lost my footing….

As I fell down into the chasm, I managed to grab hold of a rocky ledge, digging my hands into it, clinging for dear life, trying to scramble up. I felt a sudden weight when someone grabbed hold of my neck, nearly choking me. I looked to find that it was Bilbo; he too was clinging for dear life. "Hold on Bilbo!" I exclaimed. I heard a chorus of cries from above and I looked up to see the dwarves fearfully calling for me to grab their hands. I reached unsuccessfully up, only to slip and fall another few feet before grabbing another hold. The dwarves and my friends called fearfully, reaching for me. (Well, it's kind of hard with a hobbit on your back!) Suddenly, I felt someone roughly boost us up, it was Thorin. My friends helped the dwarves pull us up to safety and I let Bilbo down. I barely had a second to recover before my friends smothered us with a group hug that nearly suffocated us. "Uggh, okay guys, we're lucky to be in one piece, don't break us." I said, half-joking.

"I thought we lost our Burglars." said Dwalin.

"They've been lost," Thorin said with remorse, "Ever since they left home. They should never have come. They have no place amongst us."

I stared up at him, taken aback, feeling tears well in my eyes, his words hurt. Thorin locked his gaze with me for a minute, then turned and called to Dwalin. Millie, Marley, and Lizzie lingered behind with us for a little bit before turning and following the rest of the company. I turned to Bilbo, whose face was filled with the same hurt as mine. I set a hand on his shoulder and led him along. "Come on." I said, sniffling. We followed after everyone else.

**AN-There we go. What did you guys think? Review please? And yes, for those of you who are wondering, I decided to pair Millie with Ori because of the excessive amount of Thorin x OC stories and because there are little to no Ori x OC stories, as well as the fact that Ori's just so freaking adorable. Don't get me wrong, I love Thorin, he's still gonna be a best friend to Millie. Please no one get mad. *falls to knees with hands clasped* PLEAAAAAAAASE! We begs you, we begs you! Don't get mad at us! (Ha, ha...slipped into Gollum talk there). But seriously, don't get mad, I don't want any flames. **

**-Luv**


	10. Riddles Down in Goblin Town

CHAPTER 10

RIDDLES DOWN IN GOBLIN TOWN

**Lizzie's POV**

_What the he*l Thorin! What is wrong with you? Insulting Sam and Bilbo like that! God, talk about a stuck-up snob! _I thought with anger as I settled down on the cold floor of the cave we had found to settle in. _You're lucky they lived!_ I let out a huffy breath as I tried to get comfortable between the girls.

"Sorry about Thorin." I apologized to Sam.

"Yeah, we're really sorry." Mill said.

"It's okay," Sam replied, "It wasn't your fault, and anyway, I don't really care anymore, I'm here for you guys and to help the dwarves, I don't really care what he thinks about me, all the others like me, so, it's fine." She said, "But," she turned her gaze to Bilbo's small form a few feet away from us, with his back turned. "I just hope he's okay." She said.

"Oh Sam, always looking out for your friends, that's why we love you." Millie said.

Sam smiled, "Thanks guys that makes me feel a lot better. Now c'mon, let's get some sleep." She was still smiling, but somehow, it seemed that that the emotion was false, it seemed like, deep inside, she was very hurt. I took one last look at her before closing my eyes and attempting to get some sleep. It seemed like I had just drifted off when Thorin's barking awoke me, "Wake up! Wake up!" Too late. The floor collapsed underneath us and we fell. I screamed. We fell through a chute and landed in a giant wooden cage. Of course I had to fall on top of Kili. I landed onto his chest to where our lips were almost touching, then, in tumbled Fili, and Marley on top of us. We struggled to get up, only to be attacked by a horde of goblins. They took our weapons and dragged us all away. However, when I turned to look behind me, I could see Sam and Bilbo quietly slip away, avoiding capture.

**Sam's POV**

We scampered behind some railing, hiding, watching the goblins go through the tunnels. Bilbo stood in front of me, as if he were trying to protect me with his little sword drawn, it was glowing bright blue. I had one of my axes drawn, with my other hand to where I could pick up throwing axes if I needed them. Slowly but surely, we began to follow the goblins. That was when a goblin jumped in front of us and rushed at us with a sword, and in a brief sequence of fighting, all three of us tumbled over the edge of a platform into darkness, Bilbo and I yelling as we fell.

**Millie's POV**

The Goblin hoard led us through a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges to a throne room and the platform of the Great Goblin. The Great Goblin was sitting on a large throne holding a mace topped with the skull from some goat-like animal. He was a great deal larger than any of the other goblins and was incredibly ugly, he was covered in warts all over a swinging chin. I made a disgusted face as he jumped off of the throne, trampling several goblins beneath him, and approached our company.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" he asked, "Spies? Thieves? Assassins!?" his voice went up an octave.

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence." replied one of the Goblins.

"Dwarves?" echoed the Great Goblin.

"We found them on the front porch." replied the other one.

"Well don't just stand there, search them! Every crack, every crevice!" ordered the Great Goblin. I wriggled and kicked at the goblins to keep them from touching me.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed.

"What are you doing in these parts?" asked the Great Goblin. No response. "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" the Goblins cheered. "Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone-Breaker! Star with the youngest." he pointed down at Ori and I put a protective hand on his shoulder and gave the Goblin King the meanest death-glare I could muster.

"Wait!" exclaimed Thorin, stepping forward.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain." the Goblin king gave him a mock bow, "Oh, but i'm forgetting you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king," anger bubbled inside of me and I fought to keep it there. "So, that makes you, nobody really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours; a Pale Orc astride a White Warg."

Thorin looked up in disbelief, "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He died of his wounds long ago." Thorin replied bitterly.

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" replied the Great Goblin. He laughed and then turned toward a tiny, deformed goblin sitting in a basket, holding a slate.

"Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize." the Great Goblin said. The small goblin wrote down the message on the slate and cackling, he pulled a lever and began sliding down a system of ropes and pulleys into darkness.

**Samantha's POV**

I awoke in darkness, and for a moment, I was unsure if I had actually opened my eyes, but as my sight adjusted, I could see that I was inside a cave, lying in a bed of what appeared to be mushrooms. I felt movement beside me and I turned and looked to see who it was, I could just make out a small shape with a full head of curly hair, it was Bilbo.

"Bilbo!" I whispered. He jumped and snapped his head around, scanning for the owner of the voice. "Bilbo!" I said a little louder. He turned his head to look at me. Then he turned back, and beckoned me to follow him. We crawled out of the safety of our hiding spot and stood up, retrieving our weapons from the ground. I followed him, hearing raspy singing in the distance. We followed the sound of the voice.

_"The cold hard lands, they bites our hands, they gnaws our feet. The rocks and stones, they're like old bones, all bare of meat. Cold as death, they have no breath, it's good to eat!" _sang the voice. We rounded a corner and saw the silhouette of a creature on top of a large rock in the middle of a small lake. It was singing as it beat a goblin with a rock, the same goblin that had attacked us in Goblin Town. Then, I realized, with a slight bit of nervousness, that the creature was Gollum. _Uh oh._ Suddenly, his head turned toward us, as he had seen the glow of Bilbo's sword. We crouched behind the rock, only to find the sword-light flicker and go out, signaling the goblin was dead. We peered out from behind the rock, shocked to find that Gollum was no longer there. _Uh oh. _We turned slowly and looked up; Gollum was on the rock above us. Gollum jumped down from the rock and landed in front of us. "Bless us and splash us, Precious! Those are meaty mouthfuls." He said. Bilbo pushed me behind him as Gollum approached us, and put the point of his sword to the creature's throat, and I kept a firm grip on my axe. Gollum retreated in fear.

"Aahh! _Gollum. Gollum._ Ack!"

"Back. Stay back. I'm warning you, don't come any closer." Bilbo said.

"It's got an elfish blade, but it's not an Elfs. Not an Elfs, no. What is it, Precious? What is it?" asked Gollum.

"My name is Bilbo Baggins."

"Bagginses? What is a Bagginses, Precious?"

"I'm a Hobbit from the Shire."

"Oh! We like Goblinses, batses, and fishes, but we hasn't tried Hobbitses before. Is it soft? Is it juicy?"

At that moment I stepped in front of Bilbo and pointed the blade of my axe at Gollum, "Try to touch him I'll cut off your head." I said.

Gollum was silent for a moment until a smug grin crossed his face, "What is she? Bagginses' Pretty Girl?"

I put the axe against his neck, "What did you say!?" Gollum snarled, causing me to back up. Bilbo went in front of me, swinging his sword wildly, "We don't want any trouble, do you understand? Just show us the way to get out of here, and we'll be on our way."

"Why, is the couple lost?" asked Gollum.

_Stop it! Shut up! _I could feel my face burning bright red.

"We are not a couple, we're friends only, and yes, we are, and we want to get unlost as soon as possible." Bilbo replied.

"Ooh, we knows, we knows!" answered Gollum with his Smeagol side, "We knows safe paths for Hobbitses and Pretty Girl. Safe paths in the dark."

"Shut up!" Gollum said.

"I didn't say anything." Bilbo replied, puzzled.

"I wasn't talking to you." Gollum answered.

"But yes, we was, Precious, we was." replied Smeagol.

"Look, uh, I don't know what your game is, but I-" Bilbo began.

"Games? We love games, doesn't we, Precious? Does it like games? Does it? Does it? Does it like to play?" Smeagol interrupted.

"Maybe?" Bilbo answered.

Smeagol held up his hand and began to sight a riddle, "What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees. Up, up, up it goes, and yet, never grows?"

"…..The mountain." Bilbo answered.

Smeagol began to laugh uproariously, "Yess, yess, oh, let's have another one, eh? Yes, come on, do it again, do it—do it again. Ask us." Then his Gollum side took over and he ran away from us, "No! No more riddles. Finish them off. Finish them now. _Gollum! Gollum!_" The creature rushed at us but Bilbo responded by holding his sword out in front of him, pointing it at Gollum.

"No! No, no, no. I wa—We want to play. We do. We want to play. I can see you are very good at this. S—so why don't we have a game of riddles? Yes, just, just the three of us." Bilbo said.

_Who said I was gonna play? _I almost said allowed, but thought better of it. Iinstead, I just crouched down beside Bilbo so I was at Gollum's level. The creature came scuttling toward us, whispering excitedly.

"Yes! Yes, just, just—just us." Gollum echoed.

"Yes. Yes. And—and if we win, you show us the way out." Bilbo indicated the two of us.

"Yes. Yes –" then the Gollum took over again and he turned away and snarled, there was a brief back—and—forth conversation between his two sides. "And if they loses, what then?"

"Well, if they loses precious, then we eats them!" Smeagol replied, he laughed to himself and turned back to us.

"If couple loses, we eats them whole." He said. _Call us a couple one more time… _I took a deep breath and made a disgusted face, shooting Bilbo a quick glare for dragging me into this.

"Fair enough." Bilbo replied. Bilbo stood up and put his sword away. I let out a deep sigh and put my axe away and stood up, crossing my arms and tapping my foot, rolling my eyes.

"Well, Baggins first." Gollum said. I watched as Gollum rested his hands in his chin on a rock and waited while Bilbo thought of a riddle. He also watched me as if he was making sure I didn't pull a weapon out on him, making me feel uncomfortable, I was saved when Bilbo began reciting his riddle.

"Thirty white horses on a red hill. First they champ, then they stamp, then, they stand still." I watched as Gollum thought, he kept opening his eyes and mouth, then closed them again, this went on for several seconds. _I already know the answer._ I thought smugly as my, "Snarky Stark Attitude", as my friends called it, came out.

"Teeth?" Gollum replied questioningly. I turned to see Bilbo, looking unhappy, as the answer was correct. Gollum started to laugh throatily, "Teeth! Yes, my Precious. But we—we—we only have nine."

Gollum displayed his mouth, sure enough, he really did have nine teeth, I made a face, "Alright then." I said.

Gollum began to recite his next riddle, getting closer and closer to us; Bilbo once again came in front of me, keeping a large rock between us and Gollum. "Our turn, voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters." He said.

"Just a minute." Bilbo turned away, thinking, I followed.

"Ooh, ooh, we knows, we knows!" Smeagol exclaimed.

"Shut up!" replied Gollum.

We stared at the water as small ripples formed in it, and I felt a breeze ruffle my hair, then the answer hit me.

"Wind." I said, turning towards Gollum. The creature snarled and began slinking around, "Very clever, Pretty Girl, very clever." He got too close to me, so I quickly drew my axe and pointed it at him, nudging it forward, causing him to back up.

"A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid." I said. The wretch thought hard, making many notions with his hands, talking to himself.

"A box...and a lid...and then a key..."

"Well?" I challenged smugly, thinking I had him puzzled.

"It's nasty. Uh, box, uh..." Gollum said.

"You give up?" I asked.

"Give us a chance, Precious, give us a chance!" he replied. Gollum began to pound the floor in frustration. His face puckered it up deeply, when suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, Dam*it! He got the answer!

"Eggses, eggses!" he laughed, "White, crunchy little eggses, yes. Grandmother taught us to suck them, yes."

_Alright then. _I thought. Suddenly, a bat flew in the distance, and Bilbo and I huddled together, searching for the source of the sound. Then, as we turned back around, we realized Gollum was no longer there. Uh oh. Then, his voice began to echo throughout the cave as he spoke from an unknown spot.

"Ahh. We have one for you: All things it devours, birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. Answer us." Came his voice.

"Give us a second please; we gave you a good long while!" I called.

We tried to think, at the same time, walking around, looking for Gollum. "Da*n!" I muttered under my breath, "That fall caused me to forget this!"

"I don't know this one." Bilbo said.

"Are they tasty? Are they scrumptious?" Gollum began in a sing-song voice.

"Are they crunchable?" I felt cold hands touch my neck; I let out a yelp and turned around, pointing my axe at Gollum.

"Let us think, let us think!" Bilbo said.

"They're stuck. The couple is stuck."

"Shut. The f**k. Up."I muttered through gritted teeth.

"Times up." Gollum said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Time," Bilbo said with realization, "Ti—the answer is time."

Gollum snarled.

"_*Cough, *cough, _actually it wasn't that hard." Bilbo said. I smirked.

"Last question. Last chance." Gollum said menacingly.

"Uh…uh…."

"Ask us." Gollum said, smiling sweetly, then his face turned into a snarl, "ASK US!"

"Yes, yes, alright." He strolled toward the lake, rubbing his pocket, then he turned and said, "What have I got in my pocket?"

Gollum made a face of anger and remorse, "That's not fair. It's not fair! It's against the rules!" Gollum threw down the rock he had been clutching, which nearly hit me.

"Ask us another one." Gollum said.

"No, no, no, no. You said 'Ask me a question.' Well, that is my question. What have I got in my pocket?" Bilbo replied. Gollum jumped off the rock and approached us. We backed up, moving to keep a rock in between him and us.

"Three guesses, Precious, they must give us three." Gollum held up two fingers to quantify three.

"Three guesses. Very well, guess away." Bilbo replied.

"Handses!" exclaimed Gollum.

"Wrong, guess again."

Gollum crouched to the floor, slapping it with his hands, trying to think of potential answers, muttering to himself.

"Fish-bones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, bat's wings ... Knife!" Gollum said, "Oh, shut up!"

"Wrong again. Last guess."

"String," Gollum replied, "Or nothing."

"Two guesses at once; wrong both times." replied Bilbo.

Upon hearing this, Gollum fell to the floor, sobbing.

"So, come then, we won the game, you promised to show us the way out." Bilbo said.

"Did we say so, Precious, did we say so?" Gollum challenged, glaring hatefully at us.

"What has it got in its pocketses?"

"That's none of your business." I said, raising my axe to swing it, "You lost."

"Lost? Lost? Lost?" Gollum echoed. Then, he grinned evilly, slowly approaching us, I pushed Bilbo behind me, pressing myself slightly against him, keeping him out of the wretch's reach. Gollum then reached for something hidden at his side and finding that it was not there, his face registered in shock. He began to grope all over himself, trying to find it.

"Where is it? Where is it? No! Ahh! Where is it? No! No!" he exclaimed. He began to scuttle around the cave, scattering bones and rocks as he went in search of his Ring. He even splashed through the shallows of the lake. "Lost! Curses and splashes, my precious is lost!"

"What have you lost?" asked Bilbo, peering out from behind me.

"Mustn't ask us! Not its business! No! _Gollum, Gollum_." He sobbed quietly over the water, then suddenly, he slowly turned toward us, "They stole it. They stole it! Ahh! THEY STOLE IT!" Gollum threw a rock at us. I deflected it with my axe and shoved Bilbo in front of me, "RUN!" I exclaimed. He looked at me with wide eyes before taking off; I soon followed, sprinting for my life.


	11. Escape

CHAPTER 11

ESCAPE

**Marley's POV**

"Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung, you'll be beaten and battered from racks you'll be hung! You'll lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin Town!" sang the Great Goblin with a voice worse than mine as his henchmen brought out various torture machines, giving me a huge knot in my stomach. He also did a little dance to go along with it, as well as making movements with his hands as if he were conducting. Suddenly, one of the goblins let out a shriek and dropped Thorin's sword, causing all of the goblins to squeal and back away, the Great Goblin crushing several others beneath his feet, yelling loudly and pointing, "I know that sword, it is the Goblin Cleaver! The Biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! I felt a sharp pain in my back as a whip snapped behind me and the goblins jumped on us, attacking us.

"Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!" screamed the Great Goblin, indicating Thorin. That was when a huge burst of blue light illuminated the cave, destroying the machines and knocking everyone down. Lying on the ground, I turned to see the shadow of a tall figure wearing a pointed hat coming toward us. I realized it was Gandalf when he stepped into the pale, dim light of the candles that had not been blown out by the flash. Gandalf was holding Glamdring in one hand, and his staff in the other, "Take up arms," he said to us, "FIGHT!"

In a swift movement, we all jumped up from the ground, grabbed our weapons, and attacked our enemies, hacking and slashing like mad—men. Thorin fought the Goblin King, who lost his footing and tumbled over the edge of the ledge we were on, falling down through the various networks of bridges into darkness.

_Hopefully that's the end of him._ I thought.

"Marley, behind you!" Millie called as she back-stabbed a goblin. I turned just in time to send one of my swords through the torso of the goblin that was behind me.

"Follow me! Quick! Run!" Gandalf exclaimed. Cutting down the Goblins that stood in our way, our group ran along a pathway leading away from the throne room.

o0o

**Samantha's POV**

We hurried through a cave, fleeing form Gollum, whom I could hear in the distance.

"Give it to us!" he demanded.

We were in a side cave pressed against the side of it, not daring to make any noise. Gollum ran past the entrance of our cave. We gasped when he passed us and then turned to try and get through a crack in the wall; I managed to get through, falling hard and hitting the side of the rock wall, which grazed the right side of my face, I looked up in fear to see Bilbo stuck in the crack. I got up slowly and pulled him through. We both tumbled backwards and Bilbo landed on top of me and rolled off. Then I saw something small and gold fly up in the air—it was the One Ring! Bilbo reached up to catch it, but it landed on his finger instead, and he vanished from sight. I heard Gollum approaching and I got up and darted behind a large rock, crouching out of sight.

"Thief! Baggins!" he exclaimed, running away. I slowly crawled out from behind the rock when I felt Bilbo's invisible hand grab my wrist and, hand in hand, we ran.

o0o

**Lizzie's POV**

We ran through the suspended passageways of goblin Town, followed by hundreds of the wretched creatures.

"Quickly!" Gandalf exclaimed.

"Faster!" ordered one of the dwarves. Faster? I'm already going as fast as I can! I looked ahead of me and saw goblins approaching us at a fast speed.

"Post!" Dwalin exclaimed. He and some of the dwarves cut down a guardrail post from the side of the path and we held it out in front of us like a giant battering ram. "Charge!" yelled Dwalin. We ran forward, knocking the goblins aside with it. We dropped the rail and began to fight the goblins. I stabbed some with my sword and stuck others with arrows.

"Lizzie! Behind you!" Millie's voice exclaimed. I turned just in time to see a large goblin charging toward me. I sent my sword through it and Millie used her duel blades to behead it. "Thanks Mill." I said.

"No problem." Suddenly, goblins came swinging toward us on ropes, snarling.

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin yelled. I followed the orders and slashed some of the ropes with my sword, Millie did the same. The platform that was suspended by the ropes fell outward and entangled the goblins on the ropes. Satisfied, I went and joined Kili by his side and helped him deflect the goblins arrows. We then grabbed a nearby ladder and dropped it on the oncoming goblins, we were joined by some of the others and we pushed the ladder forward to a missing part of the path, where all the goblins fell down into the darkness and ran across the ladder, using it as a bridge. When everyone crossed it, Dwlain broke the ladder, preventing the goblins from crossing it.

"Quickly!" Gandalf yelled. We continued running through the maze—like paths when we got to a section suspended by ropes. "Hold on!" Gandalf yelled as the dwarves cut the ropes. I think I was screaming as the section swung forward to the other part of the path.

"JUMP!" yelled Thorin. I took a deep breath and sprung as far as I could and just made the path. I fell over and rolled a bit before slowly dragging myself up and peering back at the swinging pathway, Millie and Marley were still up there!... And so was Kili! I watched in horror as the pathway swung back and goblins jumped on, however, soon, it went the opposite direction and the rest of the company jumped off of it, we sliced the ropes and the section fell into darkness, the goblins' shrieking fading into nothing. We then continued running through the tunnels. I stuck beside Kili, killing all the goblins who stood in my way. That was when I felt a stinging pain coming from halfway down my upper arm, I gasped and peered at it, the fabric of my sleeve had been cut and a long gash bled down. I took a deep breath and turned back and focused on running. Gandalf struck a rock with his staff and the huge boulder began to roll down the hill after it landed in front of our company and we gave it a shove, it rolled, squishing all the goblins in its path. We continued running and soon approached a bridge between two walls of a cavern. As we tried to cross it, there was a loud noise and the Great Goblin came crashing through the top and pulled his fat, warty self up, we halted, and goblins surrounded us on all sides.

"You thought you could escape me?" he asked. The goblin swung his mace at Gandalf, causing the poor man to stumble back and almost fall, only to be caught by our company. I saw Millie glare up at him.

"What are you going to do now, Wizard?" challenged the Great Goblin. Gandalf left forward and struck the Great Goblin in the eye with his staff.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he squealed. Gandalf stepped forward and struck the goblin in his belly. The goblin fell to his knees and clutched his stomach, "Well, that'll do it." Gandalf sliced the goblin's throat with Glamdring. The creature fell down dead with a thump. With his weight, the bridge began to creak and shake and then it gave way underneath us and began to fall down the cavern wall at terrific speed, demolishing everything in its wake. I screamed and hung on for dear life as we fell. Finally, the bridge slowed down and hit the base of the cavern, burying us in the rubble. I saw Gandalf pull himself out of the wreckage and examine us, making sure we were all okay.

"Well, that could've been worse." said Bofur. That was when the corpse of the Great Goblin landed on us, squishing us even further. Everyone groaned and cried out in pain.

"You jinxed it." I commented.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin exclaimed. I let out a huiff as we began to try and wriggled out of the rubble. That was when I looked up to see thousands of Goblins running toward us.

"Gandalf!" I exclaimed.

"There's too many! We can't fight them." Dwalin said.

"Only one thing will save us: daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!" Gandalf ordered, helping us out of the rubble. We all freed ourselves and ran after Gandalf, away from the goblins. This was our last hope.

o0o

**Samantha's POV**

We followed Gollum who was crying out in rage and grief, toward the mouth of a tunnel in which daylight was visible through.

"Wait my precious, wait! _Gollum, Gollum._"

We slowly approached, our weapons drawn. Upon hearing us, Gollum jumped and hid behind a rock. As we watched, I could see the company run by, making they're escape form goblin town. I froze and began to shake, frantic, and by Bilbo's breathing, I could tell he was frantic too. Gollum again entered the tunnel looking for us and I crouched behind a rock. Then, Gollum turned around, looking down the passageway, I almost cried. The look on Gollum's face—oh so sad, there was a tear creeping down his cheek. Suddenly, an invisible force knocked him down as Bilbo ran from the tunnel. The look of sorrow turned to rage on Gollum's face as he ran back down the tunnel, "Baggins! Thief! Curse it and crush it, we hates it forever!" then he was gone. At that I ran out of the opening as fast as I could and headed down the slope of the tree-covered mountain in the direction I thought Bilbo went. I stopped behind a tree, nearly crashing in to an invisible Bilbo. I heard angry voices coming from a clearing, it was the company.

"Curse the burglars! Now they're lost?!" Dwalin exclaimed.

"They wouldn't just ditch us!" squeaked Lizzie.

"Yeah, she's right," Millie replied, "They would never, Sam's the most loyal friend I the world!"

"She's my sister!" Marley put in.

"I thought they were with Dori!" replied Gloin.

"Don't blame me!" retorted the gentlemanly dwarf.

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.

"I think I saw them slip away, when they first collared us." Nori said.

"What happened exactly? Tell me!" ordered the wizard.

"I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins and Miss Carlyle saw their chance and took it! They've thought of nothing but they're soft beds and warm hearths since first they stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Burglars again. They are long gone." Thorin finished.

_Wow. That was…offensive. _Then Bilbo took off his ring and stepped out from behind the tree and I followed.

"Nope, they aren't." Bilbo said.

"Sam! Bilbo!" exclaimed my friends and brother. Lizzie, Millie, and Marley ran toward us and threw they're arms around us, squishing Bilbo and I.

"Okay, enough hugging," I said. They stopped.

"They're back, they're back!" Lizzie exclaimed, prancing around like the pony. She tripped on a rock and Kili caught her. Lizzie stood up and planted a kiss on Kili, square on the lips.

"Umm…." Millie said as we all looked around awkwardly. Lizzie stopped kissing Kili, who was bright red.

Gandalf laughed, forgetting the awkwardness. "Samantha, Bilbo, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life."

"Sam, Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili said, recovering from the embarrassment.

"How on earth did you get passed the Goblins?" asked Fili.

"How, indeed." Dwalin added.

"Umm…well…we'r e just, errm, awesome like that." I replied, looking awkwardly at bilbo, who just shrugged.

"Well, what does it matter, they are back." Gandalf said.

"It matters," Thorin said, stepping forward, "I want to know, why did you come back?"

"Look, I—I know you doubt us, you always have." Bilbo began.

"And you're right, we do often think of home." I added.

"I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden." Bilbo said.

"I miss my Tumblr, and my mom, and my computer." I added.

"See, that's where we belong, that's home." Bilbo said.

"It may be home, but, it's nothing compared to being with you guys." My eyes misted at my sentiment.

"And, that's why we came back, because, you don't have one. It was taken from you; we will help you take it back if we can." Bilbo said. I put a hand on Bilbo's shoulder and smiled down at him, he smiled back up at me. There was a silence as the dwarves pondered what we had just said. Gandalf and my friends smiled, there were happy tears in Millie and Lizzie's eyes.

However, our happiness was cut short when howling was heard in the distance.

"Out of the frying pan," Thorin began.

"—And into the fire, run. RUN!" Gandalf exclaimed. At that we took off.


	12. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

CHAPTER 12

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, INTO THE FIRE

**Millie's POV**

We ran down the mountain as fast as we could. My head was spinning and I felt very unsteady. I kept beside my friends in the middle of the company. Suddenly, we stopped; there was nothing but a sheer drop below us, and trees all around. The Wargs caught up to us.

"Up into the trees, all of you, come one, climb, quickly!" I turned and thrust my swords into the head of the warg that was approaching me. I pulled them out and followed the rest of the company up into the trees beside my friends, straining my arm at the same. I leapt up as a warg snapped at my leg and then helped my friends into the topmost branches, almost losing my grip on the tree. That was when the wargs' growling ceased as a massive white orc on top of a humungous white warg appeared, it was Azog.

"Azog!" Thorin exclaimed in a hurt disbelief from beside me. Then Azog began to speak in a low, terrifying voice.

_"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast?" _(Do you smell it? The scent of fear?)_"Ganzilig-i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train-ob." _(I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain.)"

"It cannot be." Thorin sound near crying.

Then Azog yelled at his army of wargs and they rushed forward and tried to climb the trees. They jumped as high as they could, scrambling the trunks and breaking branches with their jaws in desperation to get to us. I scrambled up the tree further and struggled to hold on as the assault caused the tree to groan and tilt forward; it was uprooted and began to fall. Our company jumped from one tree to the next as they fell like dominoes and I scraped and bruised myself up as I hung for dear life from tree to tree until we all were in the last one, it didn't fall over. Azog laughed. I could do nothing but look on in fear, when someone called to me. I looked up as Gandalf threw down a burning pinecone, I caught it and helped Marley, Sam, and Lizzie light theirs. IN an instant, burning pinecones were flying like missiles down at the wargs, burning the ground, causing them to growl and yelp, retreating in the distance. I grinned smugly as I saw one yelping and dashing away with its back on fire. Azog growled and our company cheered, but our cheers were cut short as the tree we were in groaned and leaned, its roots giving way. I struggled to hold on as the tree leaned over the edge of the cliff and stopped. I turned briefly and looked down; my feet were dangling over the edge of the cliff. I turned back and pulled myself farther on the branch, digging my nails into it, breathing hard, almost in a panic. That was when I felt a sudden weight on me when Ori grabbed me around my neck, and I was pulled down farther, my fingers started to slip. "GANDALF!" I screamed, "GANDALF, HELP!" Gandalf looked down and thrust out his staff for me; I grabbed hold of it and scrambled up as far as I could, digging my fingers into it and wrapping myself around it. All the while making sure Ori didn't fall. I closed my eyes and whispered, "Save us!" over and over again.

**Samantha's POV**

_Thorin what the he*l are you doing!_ I thought and almost yelled as I saw him stand up on the tree, holding his sword and oaken branch shield and started to walk down the leaning tree branch toward Azog, a look of determination on his face. I nearly started screaming, I knew what Azog was capable of, and what was going to happen. I grabbed Bilbo's hand and squeezed it as I watched Thorin run over the burning ground toward Azog and his warg, sword pointed, oaken branch held out. Azog spread his arms wide as a smug grin crossed his face. Then, the white orc crouched and growled as his warg ran forward toward Thorin, who swung his sword, only to be knocked off his feet, landing roughly. My breath caught in my throat. Thorin got back on his feet panting as Azog and his warg wheeled around and ran back toward Thorin. Azog swung his mace and smashed Thorin in the face, causing the dwarf to fall down brutally by impact. Azog roared in excitement as the warg clamped Thorin in her jaws. Thorin cried out in pain as he was flung around like a chew toy by the creature. I could not take this. I nodded to Bilbo and we struggled to stand up on the tree. "Sam, no!" Lizzie yelped.

"I have to." I watched a moment longer, and gathered up my courage as Thorin hit the warg's head with his sword. She growled and flung him several feet. He landed on a flat rock harshly, his sword falling out of reach.

Azog spoke in Black Speech to one of the riders. The orc jumped off his warg and ran toward Thorin. I watched as the orc put his sword to Thorin's neck. Thorin frantically tried to reach for his sword. The orc raised his sword. There was flash of color as Bilbo jumped forward and tackled the orc. I ran forward with a battle cry and threw one of my axes at Azog. It spun in the air and impaled in the middle of his scarred chest. He let out a growl of pain and fell back off of his warg. The warg snarled charged at me, her yellow eyes gleaming. I drew one of my large axes. "Oh, you want some of this huh?" I asked her, "Then have it, bring your pretty face to my axe!" I swung it and hit her square in the face in the middle of her head. She froze and fell down dead. I kicked her body sharply when there was a roar. I looked up just in time to see a very angry Azog. He was holding a throwing axe covered in his black blood, and there was a gaping wound in the middle of his chest, gushing black. His eye gleamed with hate as he charged toward me. I responded by kicking the seven—foot tall monster downstairs, extremely hard, oops. He let out a squeal and froze; he kneeled over and clutched the spot where he had been kicked, his face twisted in pain. "Not so tough now are ya?" I asked. He glared up at me and growled loudly, still not being able to move. I heard shrieking of an eagle from behind.

"Oops, that's my ride, gotta go." The eagle scooped me up in its talons and I kicked Azog in the face and grabbed the bloody axe as it rose to the sky, I turned and flipped him off with both hands before I let the eagle carry me away.

o0o

**Samantha's POV**

The eagles flew over many landscapes into the sunrise and I looked on with concern and grief for the unconscious Thorin that lay in one of the eagle's talons.

"God da**it Thorin." I said with grief as I watched his unconscious body, tears welling in my eyes. I was with Bilbo on his eagle and beside me was Millie with Ori and Lizzie and Marley on my other side. They were all extremely sad and Millie was crying. The eagles soon landed on top of a rather large rock and we slid off of them. Gandalf ran forward toward Thorin lying on the ground. Thorin didn't respond. Gandalf fell to his knees and drew his hand over Thorin's sweaty face and whispered a spell. Thorin's eyes fluttered open and he muttered weekly, "Th—them… are…" he said weakly and trailed off.

"It's alright, Sam and Bilbo are here, and they're quite safe." Everyone soon landed as well and circled around the wounded Thorin. Millie and Kili helped him up. Once he was standing, however, he shrugged them off and approached Bilbo and I.

"You two! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place amongst us?" Bilbo's face was worried and frightened. I felt like crying, we just saved his fu**ing ass! Thorin advanced until he was face to face with us. "I have never been so wrong in all my life." He advanced forward and embraced us deeply. "Okay, we're giving hugs again, that's fine." I said as I returned the favor and smiled. Everyone cheered, especially Millie and Lizzie.

"I am sorry I doubted you." Thorin was smiling.

I shrugged, "Well…"

Lizzie bounced up to Thorin, "You should've seen her Thorin!" she squealed, "You should've seen both of them! Sam kicked Azog's ass! And Bilbo killed an orc." Thorin chuckled and Bilbo smiled up at me.

I smiled back down. "We make a good team." He said, he turned red and I blushed back. Perhaps we were more than friends…

"Yerp, we sure do." I answered.

Then Lizzie whispered in my ear, "Do it, you know you want to!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Kiss him." She answered.

"What, no!" I answered, "Lizzie!"

She gave me an evil look, "Don't make me…"

I stood, "What, what do you—what?"

Lizzie began to clap a rhythm and Millie joined in, "Kiss him, kiss him!" they chanted. Soon, everyone joined in. I sighed.

"You're gonna owe me Elizabeth." I said. I smiled down at Bilbo then grabbed him and spun him around and planted one on him, right on the lips. There was a moment of silence as I felt his arms wrap around my neck and everyone burst into cheer. We stopped kissing and smiled at each other.

"What good is a burglar if she can't steal a kiss?" I asked. Bilbo just chuckled. Then, he caught sight of something and strode forward. The others followed him.

"Is that, what I think it is?" he asked.

"Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth."

"Our home." Thorin smiled.

o0o

**AN—Hey, hey, peeps! How goes it? I hope you guys liked this chapter, 'cause this'll be the last official update for a while. School's starting up again so I'm taking a break. *Cries*. However, I will be posting off and on, and I'll start with regular weekend updates back up in December after the movie. I would love to post sooner, but with school, there's just no time. No hate, pretty please with the Precious on top! I love and value my readers so much! I hope you guys don't mind. Thanks for everything.**

**-Luv**

**PS: Remember to leave a review and don't forget to watch for updates! **


	13. Queer Lodgings and New Challenges

CHAPTER 13

WEIRD LODGINGS AND NEW CHALLENGES

**AN: Hi guys, it's been a while. I missed you. So, here's a little chapter I decided to add in because I finally got some time on my hands to write it. I hope you guys like this. :) **

**Millie's POV**

"So, how are we supposed to get down?" Marley asked awkwardly, facing Gandalf.

"It's called, look down the side of the rock and you'll see secret stairs carved into it." Sam replied gruffly.

I followed her gaze and peered down the side of the rock, sure enough, there were stairs carved into the stone slab, leading down to the river and beyond across a grass-land.

"Come along now everyone, make haste, we must not tarry." Gandalf said. He began to climb down the stairs. Our party followed. I lingered with Lizzie in the back and couldn't help but notice she was slightly pale and stopped every so often to catch her breath, clutching her arm and kneeling down. I would stop and kneel as well, but she would just look up and smile, then stand up. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, perfectly fine." She replied swiftly. Then went a few paces ahead of me, staggering. Something was definitely wrong with her. I watched her some few paces more, when suddenly, she doubled over and fell to her hands and knees, clutching her arm. I ran to her. Her eyes were closed and she was sweating. Her face was twisted in pain, she was quite pale. I pressed my hand to her head, she was burning.

"Lizzie!" I exclaimed.

"Mill, I'm fine." She gasped.

"No, no you aren't, you're hurt! One of the goblins wounded you. Gandalf! GANDALF HELP!" I screamed. I put my arms around Lizzie. The company at once appeared back up the rock. The wizard ran toward me.

"Millie, what is the matter?" he asked.

"It's Lizzie, something's wrong with her!" I replied. Gandalf crouched down at Lizzie's side and gently pulled her hand away from her shoulder. It was soaked with blood. I peered at her shoulder, the fabric on her shirt was ripped apart and a long, deep, bloody, red gash lay in its place.

"It's the wound of a goblin sword." Gandalf said.

"Poison." Thorin finished. Gandalf nodded slowly. Poison! No! Lizzie! Oh God, no!

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Gandalf asked Lizzie angrily.

"I…I…I didn't…" she trailed off and panted, "…Want to worry anyone…" Kili ran forward and cradled Lizzie.

"Gandalf!" his voice was panicked plea.

"Poison!?" Sam echoed, "Gandalf, you have to help her!" she was practically ordering him to.

Everyone began to echo "Gandalf" over and over again. The company was now a panicked mess.

Gandalf finally had enough, "ENOUGH!" everyone was silent. "Your noisiness is not good for her, be quiet and let me do what I can." We all stepped back and watched as Gandalf used some herbs and water to wash the wound and wrap it with a rag/cloth thing. He looked on with concern. Lizzie's breath came in gasps and wheezing, with several fits of coughing mixed in as well. She then vomited. Gandalf picked her up, "Hurry, follow me! We must move! Come on!" Lizzie's head leaned into his chest and began to loll from side to side. She groaned, and her fits continued. "Hurry!" Gandalf took off running, and I could do nothing but follow and pray for Lizzie.

o0o

**Lizzie's POV**

I groaned and blinked to bright sunlight, "Where am I…" I remembered nothing.

"Lizzie, you're awake!" There was what sounded like fan—girl screams and before I knew it, I was being dog—piled on by someone or several someones. I opened my eyes to see Marley, Sam, and Millie. Sam and Millie were crying tears of joy. I looked ahead of me; the rest of the company (even Thorin) was there, cheering loudly. Then they all dog-piled on me.

"You gave us all a scare, lassie." said Gloin.

"O, bless me!" exclaimed Bofur, "Bless you!" he said.

Bilbo was at my side with Sam, sighing with relief. I looked down and smiled, they're fingers were entwined.

"You're lucky to be here, Love." Gandalf said, "If it weren't for the master healing of Eleana, you would be dead."

"Eleana?" At that moment I caught sight of a tall, fair, beautiful, quite pregnant woman with long, curly black hair in a light purple silk dress coming in through the doorway.

"I am Eleana." She said. She curtsied.

"I don't know how to thank you." I said, and then I peered at my bare shoulder, which was wrapped in a white linen bandage. I was wearing a soft, cotton-like pale pink, almost white dress with tank top sleeves.

Eleana laughed warmly, "Come, we must let her rest." She headed out the door.

"Come." Gandalf said. He followed her and soon, all the company headed out as well, leaving just Kili. He gazed at me with his wide brown eyes. He looked sad…and nervous. I smiled at him warmly. "Come here, go ahead." I said.

He ran forward and threw his arms around me, embracing me deeply. I did the same back to him. Then, I felt warm, moist tears hit my back, Kili was crying. I stopped hugging him and looked up into his eyes. "Kili, it's okay." My voice was soft and repentant. "I'm alright." He sniffled and pulled himself together, only leaving a few tears trailing down his face.

"You scared me half to death." Kili pulled me his arms and kissed me on the lips. I closed my eyes and put my arms around him and kissed back. We kissed for a while and stopped and then he hugged me. I hugged him back. "I love you Kili." I whispered. That's when I heard someone come into the room; I looked to see that it was Millie. She stopped when she saw us hugging.

"Ermmmmmmmmmm…." Her face turned a little pink, she had walked in on an awkward moment. Kili stopped hugging me and turned her way, smiling like a derp as he felt the awkwardness.

"Yeah Mill?" I tried to push away the awkward.

"It's breakfast time." She said, regaining her status, "Gandalf's ordering you to eat." Then she smiled, "They'll be none on the table if you guys don't hurry."

"We probably should." Kili said, helping me out of bed, "C'mon." I grabbed the robe that was on a coat rack beside my bed and put it on as he held my hand and led me out of the room, following Millie down the maze of hallways until we arrived in a huge dining room with a large, long table, piled with food, and two rows of chairs filled with the whole of the company. I caught sight of a light brown pointer dog walking on his back legs serving us food and drink. What!? A dog!? What the he*l!? The company was laughing and talking merrily with risen spirits now, reminding me of the unexpected party at Bag End that seemed like such a long time ago.

"Hey Liz!" Sam exclaimed, "Join us!" she waved at us with her hand. I smiled and ran over, pulling Kili behind me. He sat beside Fili and I sat beside him next to Sam. Millie was sitting in between her and Marley (smart girl) directly across from the "Ri" bros, engaged in a conversation.

"Ahh, Lizzie, good to see you up and around again." Gandalf smiled. I smiled back.

"I feel great." I said. Then I caught sight of Eleana sitting at the far end of the table in a throne—like chair, I smiled and waved at her. She smiled back. I liked her. "But, where are we?"

"We are in the House of Beorn." Gandalf replied.

"Beorn?" I couldn't recall which one he was.

"Yes, he's a skin-changer, and Eleana is his wife." Gandalf reported.

"We've been here for two days already, this will be our third." Marley said.

"I've been out for two days?" I yelped, flabbergasted.

"Longer, actually," Thorin replied, "It's been four." We got here two days after you fell unconscious."

"Oh, lovely." I said with sarcasm.

"We were worried about ye', lassie." Dwalin said, "We hardly got any sleep."

Wow? Really? I felt so loved. I smiled. "Thanks for worrying guys."

"Well, what can we say," Sam's eyes were misty, "Your our family." Bilbo leaned his head into her shoulder and gave her a hug as a few tears trailed down her cheek. I took another look at her, both her hands were wrapped in linen bandages and her left cheek was scabbed over from when it had been grazed. Marley was the only uninjured one of my three besties. Millie had a linen bandage pressed to her forehead. The rest of the meal went on until everyone finished and started to leave, when I caught sight of Eleana still sitting at the end of the table. She smiled warmly at me, though she looked sad. That's when I had an idea. I stood up from my chair.

"Wait, guys!" everyone stopped in their tracks and fixed their gazes on me, "We all owe Eleana a huge thank you." The dwarves nodded. "On the count of three, "One….two….THREE!"

"Thank you Eleana!" all of our voices echoed throughout the house. She smiled and laughed merrily.

"My pleasure." The whole company laughed and exited the room slapping each other in the backs. I waited for Eleana though. I helped her out of her seat and pushed it in for her.

"I don't know how to thank you." I said again.

She smiled down at me, "What you did was plenty." She said.

"Are you sure? You don't need help with anything else?"

"Well, if you would, I would love some help organizing my supplies. They're a bit of a mess."

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to." I replied.

"You're a great girl." She said. I blushed as she led me to her office/ lab area. Her supplies were a big mess. There were books in piles and scattered on her shelf and everything was everywhere. I helped her sit in her rocking chair.

"You stay here and tell me what to do; you shouldn't be working hard when you're this pregnant."

"Thank you." Eleana smiled and picked up some sewing stuff and started knitting.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Do you see the pile of leaves and plants on the desk over there?"

I turned, "Yes, I do."

"Those are all my herbs; it'll tell you what they are in that open book in the shelf. If you could organize them into separate piles and put them in those baskets, please."

"Yes." I took the rather heavy, worn book off the shelf and sat cross-legged on the floor with the box of unorganized herbs and began to go through the book, there was the type of herb, the description and what it was for on each set of two pages. I flipped through the book and read all the pages, there were many unfamiliar names but I fought through it.

"So, when's the baby due?" I asked Eleana.

"Oh," she patted her stomach, "The midwife said any day now."

"Is she a skin-changer too?"

"Yes. She's can change into a deer when she wants. She is quite shy, but she does her job well and loves it. She can't have children herself unfortunately.

"Sad." I said, and meant it, "What's her name?" I asked.

"Ana. She came from Bree."

"Oh. That's cool." My mind went ahead of time to Lord of the Rings when the hobbits met Strider. I smiled. If we ever came back here, we might end up in that time period. I smiled at that.

"So, you and that young dwarf, the dark-haired one, Kili isn't it? You two have feelings for one another."Eleana said.

I looked up at her in surprise, "Oh, yes…how did you know?"

"I could see it by the way you two looked at one another."

"Oh…so we're that obvious huh?"

She laughed, "Apparently." She smiled, "Come,"

"Oh, but what about the herbs?"

"Let's get you out of your pajamas first. Then you can continue." She led me down the halls to my room and opened the closet; there were beautiful dresses in there. She went through the closet and brought forth a long sleeved, embroidered magenta velvet tunic with brown pants.

"This should fit you." She handed to me and helped me into them, and then she brushed my red curls and arranged them in a fancy bun, leaving a small curly strand hanging down.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"Of course, this should hold you over until I finish patching up and washing you and Marley, Samantha and Millie's clothes." I thought back to breakfast and realized they were dressed in long—sleeved velvet tunics and cotton pants. A little later, I followed her back to her quarters and resumed organizing the herbs.

**Samantha's POV**

"Hey, where's Lizzie?" Millie asked. Our company was huddled in our rather widely spaced, large quarters chatting and having a good time.

"You just now realized she's not here?" Marley asked.

"Shut up." Millie replied briskly in a rather irritated tone.

Marley stuck his tongue out at her. She glared at him.

"She's with Eleana I think." I replied.

"She's been with that woman for four hours now." Marley pointed out.

"So what. They seem to really enjoy each other's company." I replied.

"Eleana saved her life." Millie added.

"Well, okay." Marley replied.

"Alright everyone, we're going outside to practice fighting skills." Thorin announced.

I nudged Millie, "You finally get lessons with Thorin." I smiled, "you guys get to spend some time together." I giggled. Millie glared at me.

"You have fun with Bilbo then." She replied. I turned red. Then, our whole group started parading outside.


End file.
